19 Bodies Found In Trash Bags Cooked in ”Oven” Shed
One of the animals outside have died since we died. Yes. I don’t know to be honest. Um I’m waiting to hear it back. I’m sorry. It’s okay. Just bring the dog out loud. I’m sorry. Okay. It’s okay. Just it’s bring the dog out here. It’s fine. Just bring it out here. Police were first hit with a really bad smell because it smells. I’ll admit it.
It smells. There was a nauseating wave of ammonia and feces that carried from Ballard Street all the way down to the roadway. Yes, this silly cow had an incredibly filthy filthy house. Friends, my name is Cameron. Welcome to True Red Crime. This is the case of TA Gross. Now, it was September 20th, 2023.
A Wednesday morning in Florida. A routine animal welfare check was carried by Officer Elizabeth at Tanya’s house. The officer was accompanied by representatives from the county animal services. They were there for an appointment that had been rescheduled multiple times. The woman who lived there, Tanya Gross, she had been under investigation by animal services since August 2022, where she had a pattern of cancelling inspections, making excuses, and avoiding accountability.
And the reason why is cuz this is the filthiest, dirtiest, griiest house. police and animal services had ever seen. Are you ready for the details? Well, as Elizabeth approached the front door, the stench intensified. There was waste accumulating over weeks or months. And when TA answered the door, she seemed nervous.
She admitted to having six dogs, three cats, and two birds inside the home. Six dogs? I don’t even have six friends. Here is some of that body cam footage. No, that’s not where he’s being kept. I moved him out of the house and literally put him in a great I knew this was going on and I’m stressing out. I’m sorry. I’ll get him. Just bring the dog out here.
Okay, I’ll get out here. Thank you. I’m sorry. It’s okay. Just bring the dog hell out. I’m sorry. Okay, it’s okay. Just it’s bring the dog out here. It’s fine. Just bring it out here. I just don’t want to lose my dog, but I don’t want to lose what I’m trying to do. Now, the interior of Ballard Street was unsavory.
There was feces covering the floors in every room. Cockroaches scured across countertops and walls, their numbers suggesting an infestation that had gone unchecked for months. There were spiderw webs hanging from light fixtures and door frames. The air itself seemed thick with filth. In the living areas, they found dogs confined to cages.
Their ribs visible through matted fur. Their water balls were dry. The animals looked up at the officers with eyes that reflected both hope and resignation. They had learned not to expect relief from their suffering. What is wrong with this dirty, dirty woman? Now, Kirsten, the investigator from Seinal County Services, who had been trying to work with TA, recognized immediately that the situation had deteriorated far beyond what she feared.
Hey, I’ve got one over here. I know. I was so What were you supposed about? Because I’m over the limit. I’m not supposed to have him. Just like you said, I took more than I was supposed to take. I don’t know what limit you’re talking about. I’m over the county limit for even having animals in my house.
And I know that. And I’m not over the limit of of what our agreement was here, right? I mean, you’re allowed to have six dogs. I thought it was three cats and three dogs. That’s the city of Sanford. It’s six cats or six dogs, eight cats. Yeah, but the I mean okay then I was completely misinformed. I apologize.
I really thought I had too many and I just putting him out here in the heat in a crate while he was in the shade and she had given TA chance after chance to improve conditions to reduce the number of animals to provide adequate care. Each time, however, TA had made promises. Each time she had found ways to delay, to hide, to avoid full inspection.
And when the officers asked to see the back rooms of the house, Pa became defensive. Getting it where it needs to be because that’s where it needs to be and I I already have planned to do it. I guess but I’m not comfortable at this moment because I am truly ashamed of what they’re in right now. That’s the truth. I know.
But it’s also it’s also 10 minutes. Yeah. But it’s also the room that they’re in and everything. I No, I can’t. I’m sorry. I can’t I’m literally gonna fall apart. She claimed that these rooms contained her ex-husband’s belongings, you know, and there were some birds in there, insisting there was nothing relevant to see.
But the officers, they started to hear sounds coming from behind closed doors. It sounded like whimpering and movement of animals. You don’t have anything else, right? Bears, snakes, doggies, cats, and birdies. That’s it. I can handle. And a representative from the Florida Wildlife Commission had come specifically to assess the birds TA claimed to have.
And when he gained access to examine them, the birds were living in their own feces. But this was just the beginning. See, from the backyard, there was barking, and this drew the attention of the officers. She had moved some of the dogs outside, and in the backyard, the landscaping had not been done. The grass was wild and overgrown, creating a jungle-like environment.
As officers pushed through the vegetation, they discovered multiple cages scattered across the property, each containing dogs in various states of distress. The dogs inside panted desperately, their tongues loling, their bodies trembling with heat exhaustion. There was no food, no water. Some of the animals had clearly been out there for hours, possibly days.
again in the hot Florida temperatures. Elizabeth, the police officer, then documented each cage, each animal taking photographs that would later serve as evidence. The dogs were emassiated, their skeletal frames clearly visible beneath their skin. Now, when a vet finally had access to these animals, they were given a nutritional health assessment.
And in one of these assessments, getting a number five is ideal, and getting a number one is near death. as in the animal is suffering so much that they’re nearly about to die. The vet gave these animals a number two. That’s how severe the condition was. And as the officers moved deeper into the backyard, they noticed two sheds.
All right. So, first All right. So, what I have to do first is take pictures kind of as they are like I’ve been doing. Okay. These are the other cages I have for my birds. Say that again. These are the other cages I have for my birds. Okay. [laughter] All right. So, we’re going to grab this. From inside, they could hear more barking, more desperate sounds of animals.
The heat that poured out was overwhelming. There was unventilated air that had been cooking the animals inside. Yes. Literally, the air was so hot they were cooking the animals. You heard that before? There were eight dogs crammed inside that had basically become an oven. There was no ventilation system, no fan, no way for the air to circulate.
And like the other dogs, these dogs that they just found, the ones that were being baked, ovened, cooked, right? No food, no water. Their cages were filled with their own waste, adding to the oppressive smell and the unsanitary conditions. But then what the officers found behind the right shed that would transform this case from severe neglect to something more sinister scattered on the ground were bones.
Animal bones that had been picked clean by scavengers or decomposition. When the officers asked TA about them, she explained that a German shepherd she had taken from a shelter died and that she couldn’t lift the body to dispose of it properly. So she left the dog there and let it decompose. What the [ __ ] But then this begs the question, if one dog died and been left to rot, how many others suffered the same fate? And the answer came when a crime scene technician who had been called to the scene opened the back shed.
The smell that emerged was unlike anything the officers had encountered. It was the sickening stench of death, of bodies decomposing in the Florida heat, of flesh rotting inside sealed plastic bags. See, inside the shed, scattered across the floor, there was 18 black garbage bags. Some were tied shut, others had split open.
There was fur and decay inside. And when Elizabeth asked, “What the hell are all these bags?” her first instinct was to lie. What’s in the bags? I work for a homeless ministry. It was I worked for a homeless ministry for a bunch of years and it was leftover donations and stuff when I left. I never leto donations and stuff like that.
Any dead animals in there? Not that I know of. She said her husband used to say he buried the dogs, but she’s not sure because it smells all it smells. So the officers pressed her for the truth and she finally admitted what the bags really contained. I mean, you want to just be honest with us? Okay.
So, what’s what’s going on there? He hadn’t buried him. He was supposed to come bury him and he never did. So, just two dogs are there. No, there’s others that have passed and it was too much for me. So, you put them in bags and put them in the shelves. She claimed she did intend to bury them, but couldn’t manage it alone.
She didn’t have the strength to dig graves large enough, and she didn’t have anyone to help her. So, the bodies had simply accumulated in the shed, sealed in garbage bags, left to decompose in the heat. So, she’s got dogs in the house that are starving. She got dogs in some sheds that are being cooked in an oven. Now she’s got other animals, 18 different bags.
Have you heard anything like it? Some of the animals had been dead for weeks, their bodies in advanced stages of decay. Others were more recent deaths, their forms still recognizable through the plastic. And when the technicians counted, one bag, two bag, five bags, 10 bags. By the time the shed was empty, there were 19 dead animals.
19 lives that had ended in suffering sealed in garbage bags. If that’s not a silly cow, what is? And as the scope of the horror became clear, Lieutenant Anthony coordinated with other officers to secure the scene and began the formal process of removing the animals. This is when TA is taken to the police department and she has an interview.
Here is part of her interview. Forgive me again. It was recorded on a potato. So, you foster animals, right? Yeah, I run rescue. I have my own rescue. Okay. Um, is that what the LLC is? Yes. Okay. How long have you been doing that? Um, that one cuz I I’ve been fostering with a rescue since I moved into that house in 2009.
Okay. But I less than the rescue I was with. Now, just to clarify, she explained she ran an organization called Skies the Limit Pet Rescue. The missions, she said, was to rescue dogs and cats from shelters and place them in foster homes. She claimed to work with shelters across Florida.
You know, taking in animals that might otherwise be euthanized and giving them a second chance at life. But somewhere along the way, the rescue operation had become something else where she just hoarded the animals in her house for whatever reason. So then when they asked her, “Okay, but why are the animals dead?” She said, “Well, I didn’t have the money for proper care.
She couldn’t afford adequate food. She couldn’t afford vet treatment when animals got sick. She couldn’t afford proper disposal of cremation services. So, the bodies accumulated in garbage bags in the shed. And as TA, right, this sack of potatoes sat in the interview room confessing to the conditions and the deaths back at the house, the situation continued to deteriorate.
One of the dogs that had been removed collapsed. its body there and then finally given out after enduring long without food or water. One of the animals outside have died since died. Yes. I don’t know to be honest. Um I’m waiting to hear back. Three other dogs were in such critical condition that they had to be rushed to the emergency hospital then.
And as investigators pieced everything together, they learned that the sky’s is the limit pet rescue operation that she had, right? Her company name, it essentially was an animal hoarding operation. She took in animals under the guise of rescue work, but she lacked the resources to provide for them. So that begs the question, why take them? I don’t know.
So based on the evidence, there were 24 criminal charges. You add nine counts of animal cruelty causing serious injury, nine counts of animal cruelty for confinement without sufficient food, and six counts of improper disposal of dead animals. So in September of 2023, she was arrested and circuit judge Melanie Chase sentenced her to 7 years in prison following 10 years of probation.
And you know what? What I don’t get is so the 10 years of probation, she’s not allowed to own animals, but after she can, what the hell is that? What kind of decision is that? If you starve this many dogs, she put them in an oven. Basically, a real life outside oven, you know, um, you know, when you cook brisket, what are those ovens called? You know, the one that you you cook brisket for hours and hours and hours. Is there? Uh, I forgot.
I don’t know if there’s a name for that, but you know what I mean. one of them um [sighs] um heavy duty ovens, right? Basically, that’s what she put the dogs in. Why isn’t she in solitary confinement? 7 years in prison. What the hell is that? But let me um let me play you more of her police interrogation now. Let me know what you think.
Complaint from a year ago, that’s what they were visiting you about. Right. You mentioned about 3 to four months. They they were trying to like get scheduled something with you. There was things back and forth. It wasn’t just me. I have the emails if you didn’t like to see them. There were times when the animal patrol officer, she said she wasn’t working or you know there was other things too, but I mean the hurricane came through on a weekend.
You know, there was others things. But two of my dogs died. I was having problems at work. I was, you know, it was I wasn’t trying to blow her off. That’s why if I’ve been blowing her off, I would have blow her off again this morning. It just was a real shitty three week. I started um with a group that works and networks the dogs that are coming out of Orange County, but they do uh youth list every week.
Okay. And when I took, you know, the first one, I had adoptions and adoptions and dogs were moving and they were moving and I had people volunteering to foster and then all of a sudden it like dead halted. The dogs that are at Country Club by World have been there for over a month.
I can’t even afford to get them off boarding. And I can’t find fosters for them either. I’ve had two adoptions in the past two months. Gotcha. So there’s no money. There’s no people and there’s no people adopting and everything stumbled. Gotcha. But the dogs were still dying. Okay. And you mentioned you didn’t have any money for cremation.
you had the intention of trying to bury them, but it just didn’t happen. Um, all the ones that you currently have. I mean, would it be safe to say like how how’s the business now? Are you still at that dead halt right now? Absolutely. Which is why I was willing to surrender. Okay. I just wanted my personal ones that I love to death that are my kids.
And which ones are um I sent her pictures. one dog and I sent her pictures of four cats that are they sleep in that bed. So, the dogs I I haven’t even been inside your house so I don’t know what is inside the house or anything. I’m just taking your word for it. But I did see the dogs outside that are in the crates.
Um mention that you put them out obviously for the time being. So, you know, to the wouldn’t see them. But I mean to me personally, it looked that like they were skinn skin getting skin and bones too because I was having problems with money and that’s been having problems getting food. Okay. I appreciate your honesty. That’s the truth.
That’s also why there’s a couple of them that had problems where it looks like they’re losing hair losses cuz I didn’t have money for food. Okay. I was flee bathing them, but you know, in between it happens and [snorts] they chew it themselves. Out of the ones that we just spoke about, the ones that are alive, of course, I know you’ve had this business for a long time.
When was like the last one you took in? Who would you say would be the last one you took? body came in yesterday, but he was a return from a foster. Are you saying actually like picked up like new or brought into my house? Both. Let’s talk about the one you just mentioned. You said you got one yesterday, but that was a foster you gave somewhere else.
Um, Peabody is actually were it was a rescue and I took him together um from Orange County and he had been fostered and they he went after the kid. Gotcha. Okay. And so it was an e situation and I was wanted to find him another foster. Okay. So I’m actually call possibility. I’m not going to say no cuz god forbid it happens and I don’t want to look like you don’t mind. I I honestly don’t know.
I I wouldn’t think about it right this second just because this is I understand it. Usually with these cases, it’s like people that kick their dogs or beat up their dogs or shoot their dogs or the ones that put them in the fights and things like that. That’s not what’s happening here. So, that’s where the difference lies.
You know what I mean? So, I’m going to make some phone calls and see if I have everything that I need. If there’s any other questions that need to be asked, I’ll come back and ask you, but just give me a few minutes, okay? And I’ll be very honest. I’m not going to be blunt with you. Unfortunately, we are going to arrest you, okay? Uh the child the charge is um the animal abuse.
Unfortunately, I know it’s not it was never your intention, but due to the circumstances and how they evolved from beginning to end, unfortunately, you should have just surrendered them earlier or taken some type of action earlier to prevent all of this from happening. Since we’ve been out, one of the animals outside have died since died.
Yes. I don’t know to be honest. Um I’m waiting to hear back. Um, but one that was outside, one of the crates has passed away. Uh, so we have removed the rest of them um to prevent anyone else. I mean, I I even told her I wanted to give them water. I didn’t expect them to be outside that long, but so yeah.
Um, so unfortunately based on all the circumstances, it is a it is one of those statutes you can bond out. So, um if you need to contact somebody to help you bond out, they’re going to explain everything, but unfortunately that’s where we are. Okay. Um they’re going to transport you. It’s just in Stanford.
Um there’s no reason for us to take your phone or anything. Um but we’re going to just have to take it from you to the and you know, just give it to you at the jail. Can I make one real quick text? I’m sorry. Go ahead. On Thursday, animal services brought out more animals from Gross’s house on Ballard Street on top of the 26 dogs, 13 cats, and two birds that she handed over to them already.
It’s heartbreaking. It’s so heartbreaking. State business records show Gross registered a pet rescue out of her home starting in May. Clearly not doing what a rescue should do. Officers say they found emaciated animals in filth without food or water. It was raining last night when we were taking the dogs out and they were drinking from the roadway.
So, no water at all. Clearly, no water for an extended period of time. Officers say they also found two sheds in the back, no ventilation, dogs locked inside, a dog’s skeleton on the ground, and 15 trash bags filled with dead dogs and kittens. One of the individuals uh that was an officer said uh they don’t need to go to Halloween Horror Nights anymore because that’s how bad it was inside.
In her arrest report, police say Gross told them the dog skeleton was a German Shepherd she got from a shelter in bad health and a week later it died. about the animals found in the bags.
