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Pol Launch Homicide Investigation

A tourist was found dead on San Pedro this morning - and island police are treating it as a homicide investigation. The 32 year old female from the state of Wyoming in the USA was found dead at 8:00 am behind Royal Palm Villas. As police told us, she was found on a beach chair - we have video courtesy the San Pedro Sun:

Cpl. Mark Young - Investigating Tourist's Death (Via Phone)
"At that time, we visited that area, the female was seen lying face up on a green beach chair with foam coming from the mouth."

Jules Vasquez
"Were there any signs of foul play corporal?"

Cpl. Mark Young
"Not at this time."

Jules Vasquez
"I read on the San Pedro Sun as well that there were bruises around the neck of the female. Where there apparent bruises on her neck?"

Cpl. Mark Young
"Well, not to our knowledge."

Jules Vasquez
"Was she fully clothed at the time of her being found? Was there any indication that she may been robbed?"

Cpl. Mark Young
"No, hse was fully clothed, and everything was in tact. Her wedding ring and jewelry were also found on her."

Jules Vasquez
"When was the last time any one had seen her? Is that time known?"

Cpl. Mark Young
"She left home about 5 o'clock this morning on her usual run. She was staying at the La Hacienda apartment."

Jules Vasquez
"And how far roughly in feet is that from where she was found?"

Cpl. Mark Young
"We would say about 5 to 10 minutes away."

Jules Vasquez
"Are you all treating it as a homicide investigation?"

Cpl. Mark Young
"We'll be treating it at this time as a homicide until the post-mortem is concluded."

We cannot release her name or picture at this time because up to 5:00 pm, her family had not been notified. She was the mother of one child.

Notably, this was her last day in Belize and she would have left on the 5:30 flight this evening. She had been in Belize for a month - and according to police had made friends with tourists and locals.

Channel 7

Body of unidentified female found in water south of town

San Pedro Police have started a murder investigation following the discovery of the body of an unidentified Caucasian female. The body was found partially floating in the water near the southern part of San Pedro Town shortly around 8AM on Wednesday February 27th. According to residents in the Mar de Tumbo area of San Pedro Town, the body was taken out by nearby resort workers from a rocky beach side, after which police were called to the scene.

Female Body FoundAccording to police, the female was observed wearing a black undershirt, a blue jeans short skirt and was barefoot. The female also had on a wedding band and a pair of earrings. Police have been trying to determine the identity of the female, and are speaking to residents living in the various resorts. "She doesn't look familiar to us and she does not look like a local," said one of the residents in the area who police asked to view the body in an attempt to identify the body.

Residents in the area say that the body was discovered by some maintenance workers from nearby resorts who decided to pull the female out of the water. "She was pulled out from the water because they believed she was alive. It's the first human instinct of anyone," commented a resident from a nearby resort.

Click here for the rest of the story in the San Pedro Sun

Female U.S. national strangled on La Isla Bonita?

A criminal investigation is underway in San Pedro where the body of a woman was removed from a shallow area of the sea south of the island. The woman is a US national visiting from Wyoming and up until news time, because notification was pending with her family; her name is being withheld at this time. There are signs consistent with strangulation so police are treating the case as a homicide. News Five's Isani Cayetano was in San Pedro today�

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

The lifeless body of a thirty-two year old American national of Casper, Wyoming was retrieved from shallow waters behind the Royal Palm Resort in San Pedro Town this morning by a group of young men, who were cleaning the beachfront near Mata Rock Resort.� The circumstances surrounding her death remain unknown; however, Police on the island are treating the incident as a possible homicide.� Sometime around eight o'clock the fully clad corpse was discovered floating in a rock-strewn location a few feet offshore by a teenager running along the beach.

Voice of: San Pedro Resident

"He saw a body but first he called us and said, "There's a body right here drowning!" and then I ask ahn, "Dah what?" and then he tell me wahn lady deh deh.� Then afterwards me and my co-workers just run up this side and when we reached closer it was a body and then two of us took out the body along with a next worker, who came and help us and we just took her to the chair over there.� And while putting her there she just started foaming."

Local authorities would immediately be summoned to the area where they observed the body of a dead woman propped against a beach chair.

Voice of: San Pedro Resident

"We just called the police and they reached and they start to check the lady and thing and dehn call wah doctor.� Then afterwards dehn ker di body and dehn ker di three ah we but then outta three ah we only me give wah statement and from deh so dehn tell we if anything missing from di lady dehn wah come look fu we but then nothing mi missing.� Everything mi still deh on."

While her earrings and wedding band remained intact, the absence of personal identification cards or travel documents made it difficult for residents to determine who she was.� San Pedro Police would later learn that she was sharing a condominium with a female friend nearby.

Isani Cayetano

"Did you at any point observe any injuries or anything on the body?"

Voice of: San Pedro Resident

"No.� Afta when we put di body deh so we just put she down and just lef she and call the police.� We neva mess with it or nothing.� We just watch pan she and call di police mek dehn reach."

Isani Cayetano

"Looking around in this area, it's fairly shallow.� It's difficult to comprehend that someone would actually drown here.� Do you believe that the body floated up after several hours of being submerged offshore?"

Voice of: San Pedro Resident

"Maybe.� It could be that because you never hay bout somebody di drown dah di dock, mostly da di reef yo yer people do drown or dehn di go missing, no eena di shallow piece like this."

The woman, who has since been identified, was declared dead around nine a.m. by Dr. Giovanni Solorzana.� He has gone on record in other parts of the media to state that the body was observed with what appeared to be bruises consistent with strangulation.� That, however, can only be ascertained during an autopsy. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.

According to her roommate since arriving to Belize, the woman is known for taking morning walks along the beach. The body was transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital this afternoon.�

Channel 5

Is this one deceased woman, or two women? The 'facts' reported in each instance vary widely. The first report I was aware of indicated that a tourist was found in the Mar de Tumbo area near Mata Rocks...

One. Who potentially died from natural causes.

The death of a woman whose body was found in shallow waters south of San Pedro town on Wednesday morning is not the result of foul play. Results of an autopsy on the body of Kristy Lynn Sy, 33, revealed that she died of natural causes. Police say they have also interviewed two of her Belizean friends who had interacted with Sy for about a month, and they indicated that she was on medication for seizures. Police had initially said that pending the outcome of the postmortem examination, they were treating the death as a murder investigation.

Via Patrick Jones - Belize News

So sorry that this happened.....but good to know that it was not foul play.....the Island doesn't need that type of information.

Very unfortunate. So, did this woman have a seizure in the water? Definitely, the above news accounts are conflicting. In Belize, do they release information on cause of death to the public before notifying the family or am I missing something?

Sad.

CORONER'S PRELIMINARY REPORT (Released February 28th, 3:38PM)
On 27.02.13 at approximately 8:00am police were called out to an area South of San Pedro where they saw the motionless body of a female apparently dead. She was later identified as 33 year old American National Kristy Lynn Sy. Earlier today 28th February 2012 an autopsy was conducted on the body Kristy Lynn Sy which confirmed that Kristy died of natural causes. Police had interviewed two of her Belizean friends that had interacted with her for almost a month who indicated to us that she suffered from seizures and was on medications for such seizures.

Residents in the area say that the body was discovered by some maintenance workers from nearby resorts who decided to pull the female out of the water. "She was pulled out from the water because they believed she was alive. It's the first human instinct of anyone," commented a resident from a nearby resort. In an interview with The San Pedro Sun, one of the maintenance workers of a nearby resort that assisted in taking out Sy from the water explained what he saw. "Two of us were cleaning the beach around 8 o'clock in the morning, when we saw someone passed us running the beach. He then noticed someone in the water near the beach and he stopped and told us about it. He said that someone is drowning and we quickly ran to the area. When we arrived we saw a female lying face down in the water near some rocks. Two of us jumped into the water and took her out and place her on a beach chair belong to a resort. We saw her foaming from the mouth. We then notified the police," said the male employee who preferred to remain anonymous.

The female was declared dead shortly around 9AM by Dr. Giovanni Solorzano of the Dr. Otto Rodriguez San Pedro Poly Clinic II. Speaking briefly to The San Pedro Sun, Dr. Solorzano explained that bruises around the neck of the female was observed which can be consistent with "strangulation" but said however that it could only be confirmed by a proper post-mortem examination. When asked if the female had signs of drowning, Dr. Solorzano explained that "it does not appear so" but repeated that a post-mortem would be necessary to determine that. Based on the initial examination on the body, it is believed that the person may have died between the hours of 3AM and 7AM.

"We understand that the female suffered from continuous seizures. However, the police is treating it as a murder investigation until a post mortem indicates otherwise. We are hoping that the post mortem can point the investigation in a different direction other than a murder, but we are not discrediting that possibility either," said Superintendent Castellanos. So far, police investigation indicates that while in San Pedro Town, Sy would go for daily walks along the beach in the area in which she was found.

According to police the US Embassy has been notified and from there on they will be making contacts with Sy's family back in the USA. Meanwhile, Sy's body has been transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) for a post mortem examination. Police continue their investigation.

http://www.sanpedrosun.com/crime-an...-being-investigated-by-san-pedro-police/