British women murdered in US 'travelled to meet man from fetish website with intention of being killed'

Sonia Exelby's body was found with stab wounds in a shallow grave in the woods in Marion County, northwest of Orlando on October 17 - one week after she had arrived in America.

The 32-year-old from Portsmouth had touched down at Florida's Gainesville Regional Airport and allegedly met Dwain Hall, 53, who she had first spoken to online two years before.

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She was driven to an Airbnb in Reddick, Florida and missed her return flight three days later.

This led her friends and family to fear she had gotten "into an extremely vulnerable situation", and a public plea was issued on Instagram.

It read: "Sonia is such a vulnerable person and really struggling with her mental health. We believe she got on a plane on Friday and made her way to Florida Tallahassee from the UK.

"We believe she has arranged to meet someone there and has got herself into an extremely vulnerable situation. That's all I can really say on that."

Florida Department of Law Enforcement were made aware of her disappearance after the British authorities contacted them via INTERPOL, a worldwide police cooperation organisation.

Investigators believe the Brit, who was living with a mental health condition and was suicidal, had travelled to meet a man who would violently kill her.

Hall was arrested after detectives allegedly connected him to transactions that were made using Sonia's credit cards.

After matching Sonia's fingerprints to that of the body found in the woods, officers also allegedly found a shovel in Hall's garage with Sonia's DNA on it.

An autopsy revealed she was stabbed four times with a knife, and detectives in the state found a blade covered in what was believed to be Sonia's blood.

Hall told detectives that when he met Sonia she was suicidal and wanted to be killed, but described himself as a mentor who would help her and not murder her, an arrest warrant showed.

He went on to claim he had sex with Sonia multiple times and took videos of her which he later deleted.

One of the videos obtained by police reportedly shows Sonia, with bruises all over her body, being pressed by Hall to consent to further harm.

Police said the woman looked visibly upset and hesitant as she nodded.

Investigators also found a message reportedly sent by Sonia to a friend via online messaging platform Discord on October 11, which reportedly showed she believed a mistake had been made.

These messages "showed that Hall was controlling her, that she was afraid, and had made a mistake", police said.

She reportedly said: "He made it clear there was no way out unless I shoot him. I was questioning it last night...I thought he’d do it quick and not give my mind time to stew."

Following Sonia's death, investigators learned Hall had sent a package to a friend in Ohio.

Hall has been arrested on first-degree murder, kidnapping, credit card fraud and unlawful use of a communication device charges.