CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – A contractor who was named as a person of interest in connection with the disappearance of a Fleming Island woman has been arrested, according to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday afternoon on Twitter that Corey Binderim had been found and was currently in custody at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office on an unrelated charge.
Duval County jail records show Binderim was booked Tuesday on a forgery charge and was being held on a $50,000 bond. The Clay County Sheriff’s Office has not filed any charges against Binderim, but detectives talked to him in jail about 65-year-old Susan Mauldin’s disappearance. It’s unclear how that conversation went.
Binderim appeared before a judge Wednesday in Duval County and will be back in court for arraignment on Dec. 30.
“That is the best news I’ve heard in the longest, longest time. Our neighbor, Sue, is such a wonderful person,” Ken Anderson told News4Jax on Tuesday. "All of us have been worried sick, sleepness nights. My wife cries sometimes.”
Anderson said putting up Christmas decorations at his Fleming Island home is difficult this year, as he used to see Mauldin putting up hers. Now, pumpkins still sit on her front doorstep.
“Just looking over there, you get an eerie feeling with the house all empty," Mauldin’s neighbor said. "Halloween has come and gone. Thanksgiving has come and gone. So we need a Christmas miracle. We need him or somebody to find her.”
On Nov. 19, Binderim was named a person of interest in the disappearance of Mauldin, who was reported missing from her Harbor Island home Oct. 24.
Homicide Det. Howard Fryer said detectives learned that Binderim was hired to perform remodeling work at Mauldin’s home, but their business relationship apparently soured, and Mauldin asked for a refund.
“Ms. Mauldin determined she didn’t want to work with him anymore and requested her money back,” Fryer said.
At first, Binderim was cooperative with the investigation, Fryer said, but eventually, he left the area with no explanation about where he was going.
Neighbors in the Margaret’s Walk subdivision where Binderim lives with his wife and two children told News4Jax last month they have seen law enforcement at the home at times in recent weeks, but they have not seen him in a while.
Mauldin, who’s believed to be endangered, was last seen Oct. 23, according to her missing persons report.
Fryer said there’s no reason to believe that Mauldin would have wandered off on her own or that she planned to leave town. He said she missed several appointments and her vehicle is still at the home.
“This is an ongoing investigation,” Fryer said. “Therefore, there’s elements of this case we’re not allowed to discuss at this time.”
A neighbor of Mauldin’s who spoke with News4Jax on the condition of anonymity said she had heard rumors of disagreements Mauldin had with a “handyman contractor” but nothing concrete.
A News4Jax search of local court records found Binderim was arrested in 1992 on attempted murder charges in connection with a shooting that wounded three AWOL Army Ranger trainees. He later pleaded no contest to two counts of aggravated battery and was sentenced to seven years in prison followed by probation.
Binderim appears to be the owner of Binderim Remodeling, a limited liability company that holds a D+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. The LLC was registered with the state in 2018, but the state dissolved the corporation in September because Binderim did not file his annual report.
News4Jax on Tuesday asked Binderim’s family for comment on his arrest, but didn’t get a response.
Anyone with information related to the whereabouts of Mauldin is asked to contact the Clay County Sheriff’s Office at 904-264-6512.
