Family of teen sues Grindr after she met killer on app: Suit
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Insets, from left: Steven Gress, Michelle Brandes, and Miranda Corsette (St. Petersburg Police Department). Background: The dumpster where Miranda’s body was found (WFLA/YouTube).

A Florida couple accused of killing a teenage girl reportedly connected with the 16-year-old through Grindr’s “twink” section before allegedly smothering her with a billiard ball and later dismembering her body, as described in a lawsuit.

The estate representing Miranda Corsette, referred to as M.C., has initiated legal action in Florida’s U.S. Middle District against the dating app commonly used within the gay community. The lawsuit claims that Grindr’s “reckless and careless reliance on self-reported age verification” enabled Miranda to join the app and come into contact with “predators” such as 35-year-old Steven Gress, who now faces murder charges related to her death.

The lawsuit alleges nine counts against the company, including negligence, wrongful death, participating in sex trafficking and inflicting emotional distress.

“Long before February 14, 2025, it was clear to Grindr that it was only a matter of time before its app, as Grindr marketed it and designed it, would cause the torture, rape, and murder of a child,” plaintiff lawyers write.

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It was on that day that Gress found Corsette on the app thanks to the geolocation technology that matches people who are nearby and set up an in-person meeting with her, which would eventually lead to her brutal demise, according to the suit.

“Grindr’s lack of age verification and platform design substantially contributed to M.C.’s death. M.C. was just sixteen years old — a child when her life was stolen,” plaintiff lawyers write.

The app created a “dangerous platform, motivated solely by unreasonable financial gain,” the lawsuit said. It had a “twink tribe” category, which attracts people who are young-looking who could be minors that sexual predators target, according to the complaint.

Other dating apps have biometric age verification systems with facial recognition technology that is over 99% accurate, plaintiff lawyers note. Meanwhile, Grindr asks users to type in their birth date, allowing minors to easily lie about their age to gain access to the app, per the plaintiffs.

More from Law&Crime: ‘Is whooping your child a sin?’: Murdered woman to leads discovery of bloodstained Minnie Mouse bed and body of 2-year-old girl in bayou

According to the lawsuit, Grindr has ignored user complaints about minors accessing the app and a 115-page report by a magistrate from the Middle District of Florida that “cast a stark light on the risks posed” by the app’s platform, among other warning signs.

Plaintiff lawyers say the app is liable as a “sex trafficking venture,” is negligent and intentionally inflicted emotional distress on the victim’s family. The app did not immediately return Law&Crime’s message seeking comment.

As Law&Crime previously reported, Gress and his girlfriend Michelle Brandes, 37, following the alleged murder, needed to dispose of the victim’s remains — but first, they needed to celebrate Brandes’ birthday, cops wrote in a search warrant request obtained by the Tampa Bay Times. Gress and Brandes ate chicken at Popeyes and then played mini golf at Congo River in Clearwater, the 25-page warrant written by the St. Petersburg Police Department reportedly said. After their birthday bash, the two suspects allegedly drove around the Tampa Bay area looking for places to dispose of Corsette’s body.

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