PALATKA, Fla. -- The man found passed out in a stolen car Sunday morning has recanted his story about beating his girlfriend and leaving her for dead, but the woman remains missing, according to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

Kenneth Tilley, 34, of Daytona Beach, told Putnam and Clay County detectives that he got in an argument with Brenda Horn Sunday night, beat her and left her behind a Dumpster at a Bostwick convenience store.

Deputies could not locate Horn, her body or any sign of a struggle at that store or others along U.S. Highway 17, the route Tilley traveled in the stolen car.

Overnight, Tilley admitted he made up the story hoping that deputies would find Horn so she would learn he was in jail and needed help bonding out.

While Tilley, authorities are still trying to locate Horn and confirm that she is safe.

Anyone who knows of her location or has any information that might help find her is asked to call either the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0800 or their local law enforcement agency.

"When he was arrested, he was under the influence of methamphetamines, so we're not sure how accurate his memory is," Putnam County Sheriff Dean Kelly said Monday about Tilley's original story.

Tilley is being held on $10,000 bond on an auto theft charge at the Clay County Jail.