Police on Monday announced they had identified the human remains found by someone walking their dog in Estate Adrian on Aug. 1, 2012, as those of St. John resident Seara Samantha James. She had been missing since October 2011.
According to a Police Department press release, detectives contacted the family privately a few days ago and gave them the opportunity to begin to deal with their loss before releasing the information to the public on Monday.
“Really and truly, I haven’t grasped that she’s gone,” her mother, Victoria James, said Monday.
James said that she hasn’t yet received her daughter’s remains, and was at a loss as to how to deal with funeral arrangements.
How Seara James died remains unknown.
“The investigation is ongoing,” Police Department spokesman Melody Rames said.
St. John Administrator Leona Smith said she was sure justice would be done.
“It’s a sad day for St. John. I’m sure everybody feels the family’s pain,” Smith said.
Police sent a DNA sample to the lab at the FBI on Aug. 8, 2012, and received the results the week of Jan. 14, the press release indicates.
Seara James was last seen around 8 p.m. Oct. 11, 2011, when a friend dropped her off at the entrance to the Power Boyd neighborhood, her mother said soon after she disappeared.
James had last contacted her mother on Oct. 11, 2011. The family filed a missing persons’ report with the police department two days later.
A St. Lucia native, Seara James had moved to St. John about five years before her disappearance. She worked at Global Marine.
After she disappeared, the community came together to show support at a vigil in Nov. 28, 2011, Cruz Bay Park. In the weeks after she was reported missing, residents fanned out around St. John to search for any trace of her.
Smith joined St. Thomas/St. John Police Chief Darren Foy and St. John Deputy Police Chief Maria Colon Jones in extended their condolences to Seara James’ family.
