By the time spring arrived earlier this year, Mandy Fackler was ready to give her relationship with Pinellas County sheriff’s Deputy Troy Savetz another chance.
In a public Facebook post on March 24, Fackler shared a couple of photos of herself and Savetz smiling as they held identical mugs that resembled revolvers and bore the American flag.
“We hadn’t talked in a while, but we both ended up getting each other the same mug — like one of those ‘had to — it’s so you’ kind of things,” the post said.
“And it hit me … Instead of growing through pain and moving on from each other, maybe we’re meant to grow with each other this time,” the post continued. “Not battling one another—but standing side by side through it.”
She wrote that she felt safe and cared for, “not perfectly, but real.”
”My babies wake up telling me how happy they are," the post said. “Was well worth fighting my own dragon to figure this out and give them the harmony of a family unit I’d always wanted to be able to.”
But the relationship soured again, and Fackler and Savetz were no longer together when, authorities say, Savetz kidnapped Fackler in front of her two daughters at their Hudson home on Monday, Aug. 10 and drove her to Spring Hill. At some point, Pasco deputies said, Savetz shot Fackler and then himself.
The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office declined to identify Fackler, citing Marsy’s Law. But by Tuesday morning, several dozen people who knew the 39-year-old Hudson real estate agent did, describing her on social media as a caring, attentive mother who had been stolen from her children and other loved ones by an angry ex.
During a late-night news conference Aug. 10, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco recounted the events that led to the violence.
Fackler took her two children, ages 9 and 12, to the beach Monday. They returned about 5:30 p.m. to their home on Phyllis Lane in Hudson.
As they pulled up to their house, they saw Savetz, whom Nocco said was Fackler’s ex-boyfriend. They began to argue over some of his belongings, the sheriff said. Savetz wanted his TV back.
Fackler tried to call 911, but Savetz took the phone, Nocco said. She then told her children to go in the house and call 911.
The children did as they were told. One of them spoke with a dispatcher. The girl identified Savetz as the suspect and told the dispatcher he was a Pinellas deputy, Nocco said.
“The child was absolutely, extremely brave in what she did and what she said,” Nocco said.
Pasco deputies arrived shortly thereafter. They did not know where Savetz and Fackler were, but they saw her truck outside. The truck’s door was open, and her phone was nearby. The deputies secured the house and the children. Deputies learned that Savetz was driving a rental car.
Word went out to surrounding law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for the car. At about 7 p.m., a ping to another cellphone led another deputy to a home on Platinum Drive in Spring Hill, roughly 6 miles from where the first incident occurred. There, they found the rental car.
The sheriff’s office used drones to look at the car. Inside, they saw Fackler and Savetz dead.
Investigators learned that someone else saw Savetz driving down a street sometime after the 911 call. The other person, apparently unaware of the situation, exchanged a thumbs up with Savetz, Nocco said.
“It was shortly after that the suspect took his own life,” Nocco said. “We’re not sure when at what point the suspect had killed the victim.”
The children were placed in the care of their biological father, Nocco said. He praised the children for their calmness and the information they provided to the dispatcher.
At the news conference, Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Savetz, 47, had worked for his office for 14 years. He was assigned to the sheriff’s marine unit and previously worked for the St. Louis Police Department.
“Our heart goes out to her family, to those kids,” Gualtieri said. “There’s nothing we can say other than it’s awful. We feel for them. Everybody will be here as a community to do whatever they can for them. But we can’t replace their mom.”
Gualtieri said there was little else he could say about what Savetz did.
“Mental health issues are a problem,” he said. “But you don’t kill somebody and take your own life. It’s inexcusable.”
Fackler was a licensed real estate agent who grew up in a military family, “where service was our way of life,” she wrote in her Century 21 biography page. She started in the real estate field about eight years ago as a receptionist.
“During my growth from receptionist to Realtor, I have raised my children and being a fierce mother has translated perfectly and powerfully into my business practice,” the bio says. “There is nothing that will scare a once-single-mother who worked and got through school all at the same time.”
Fackler frequently posted on social media, often about her adventures with her daughters — visiting the mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs, catching their favorite country rock star HARDY in concert, saving baby squirrels and raccoons on their expansive, oak-shaded Hudson property.
She also shared candid glimpses into her own personal triumphs and struggles, like the latest million-dollar home sale or the time when she had to isolate for a while to “heal” and “seek peace.” The posts sometimes came with an encouraging reminder: You are not alone. I see you.
Four years ago, on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, she posted about a friend’s clothing brand that promotes mental health care for first responders. Sometimes, she wrote, “our heroes need us too.”
“Too many even take their own lives, at absurd rates,” the post said. “If you’ve ever dealt with suicide you understand what I’m saying. You understand the darkness that swallows us up. And what can we do? Raise awareness and make sure they know we got their six.”
To get help around Tampa Bay
Pinellas County:
CASA (Community Action Stops Abuse) can be reached on its 24-hour hotline at 727-895-4912 and via an online chat feature at casapinellas.org. Walk-ins are welcome at the Family Justice Center at 1011 First Ave. N. in St. Petersburg.
The Haven at Hope Villages can be reached on its 24-hour hotline at 727-442-4128 and hopevillagesofamerica.org.
Hillsborough County:
The Spring of Tampa Bay can be reached on its 24-hour hotline at 813-247-7233 and thespring.org.
Pasco County:
Sunrise of Pasco County can be reached on its 24-hour hotline at 888-668-7273 or 352-521-3120 and at sunrisepasco.org.
If you are in immediate danger, call 911.
