A body was found Thursday night inside a burning vehicle in Estate Betty’s Hope, shortly after someone had reported to the 911 emergency call center that shots had been fired in the area.
The name of the victim had not been released by the V.I. Police Department as of 6 p.m. Friday. The news release reporting the incident said the identity of the victim will be released once an autopsy has been performed and the next of kin has been notified.
At roughly 10:30 p.m., the 911 emergency call center received a call of a burning vehicle in Estate Betty’s Hope near the former Texaco site. Dispatchers also received a call reporting gunfire in the same area.
Responding officers found a white pickup truck fully ablaze. V.I. Fire Service arrived moments later and extinguished the fire, at which time the body was discovered inside the vehicle. Friday’s news release referred to the incident as a homicide. It is the 19th homicide on St. Croix since the first of the year, and the 39th in the territory.
Police asked anyone with information about the case to phone the Criminal Investigation Bureau at 340-712-6024, or St. Croix Chief of Police Arthur Hector Sr. at 340-712-6005, or the anonymous tip service, Crime Stoppers USVI at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.crimestoppersusvi.org.
