Missing Tampa woman found dead in McDonald’s parking lot
A manager checking a black Volkswagen Tiguan found Erica Giordano dead in a Tampa McDonald’s lot, days after her family last saw her.
A McDonald’s manager found Erica Giordano unresponsive inside a black Volkswagen Tiguan parked at 2205 East Fletcher Avenue in Tampa and called 911 at 6:57 a.m. on July 5, 2026. The 36-year-old woman was found on the north side of the property, in a busy restaurant lot where the SUV had gone unnoticed until the manager checked on it.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office identified the dead woman as Giordano after deputies responded to the scene in Tampa’s University area near the University of South Florida. Family members had last seen her on July 2, 2026, three days before the discovery, leaving investigators with a narrow but still uncertain window for tracing when and how the vehicle reached the parking lot.
A preliminary examination found no obvious signs of trauma or injury, and detectives had not released a cause or manner of death. The case remained an active investigation, with additional information to come through its Public Affairs Office if it became available.
The unanswered questions now center on the SUV itself: when it arrived, whether anyone noticed it, and what, if anything, cameras or witnesses captured in the hours before the discovery.
Hillsborough County approved $24 million in March 2026 for the nearby Fletcher District project, a planned mixed-use development that includes public safety and traffic improvements along Fletcher Avenue.
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