WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. (AP/WSVN) — Authorities in central Florida said they believe they’ve found the body of a South Florida woman who was taken in a carjacking, and they believe this attack was not random.
Katherine Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvias, 31, of Homestead, was attacked and kidnapped at gunpoint Thursday afternoon at an intersection northeast of Orlando, Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma said during a news conference on Friday.
“What we are now investigating is a homicide,” said Lemma.
Video showed the moment the victim was hijacked in the Winter Springs area of Seminole County. A man with am automatic 10 mm gun appears to approach the woman’s white Dodge SUV, opens the driver’s door, unlocks the doors and gets into the vehicle with her.
A witness called police about the scary sight.
“There’s a guy going down East Lake Drive in Seminole County, he was chasing a car, hit the car, got out of his car wit a hood over his face, and he had a machine gun, it looked like,” said the caller.
Lemma said investigators found what they believe was her burning SUV with her body inside less than two hours later in a rural area of Osceola County, just south of Orlando.
This comes after people nearby heard gunshots and saw smoke.
“Something exploded,” said a woman in cellphone video showing the smoke.
“By the time authorities with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office arrived there, there was so much damage to the vehicle, you could not positively identify the vehicle,” said Lemma. “But they also discovered that one person was deceased and found in that vehicle.”
Near the vehicle, authorities said, they found 12 shell casings of 10 mm rounds.
Investigators will use dental records and DNA to confirm the body’s identity.
Authorities said they are searching to confirm many other details as well, like why was Guerrero De Aguasvias in Seminole County?
“We were told she was here visiting family. We were not able to confirm that she has any family member here,” said Lemma.
Guerrero De Aguasvias was at an intersection just outside of Winter Springs when a green Acura began to ram her SUV prior to the carjacking, Lemma said.
“At that time, she picks up the phone and called her husband, told her husband that she was being rammed, that there was somebody there that was following her,” said Lemma.
Guerrero De Aguasvias’ husband told her not to stop, authorities said.
“To not call 911 is something that, again, I don’t know the answer to that,” said Lemma.
Neither called the authorities, Lemma said. Another motorist called 911 and took a cell phone video of the carjacking. The video shows a passenger from the Acura pointing a gun at Guerrero De Aguasvias and then jumping in the back seat of her SUV before they drive off, followed by the Acura.
Lemma said investigators believe Guerrero De Aguasvias was targeted by the occupants of the Acura, but they don’t have a motive for the carjacking.
“She called her husband; husband said, ‘Don’t leave the car,’ no reports to law enforcement, that this was not a random act of violence, that the perpetrators knew who they were going after,” said Lemma. “Why they were going after them is something that is part of our ongoing, continuing investigation.”
Guerrero De Aguasvias has had no criminal history since moving to the U.S. five years ago, Lemma said.
Authorities urge anyone with information about the green older model Acura sedan to call 911.
Meanwhile, Guerrero’s family members have been gathering at a home in Homestead.
Neighbors said they devastated. One of them spoke to 7News through a translator.
“She was a good person. I went to give the family my condolences, and they are heartbroken, and so am I,” he said.
Family members said investigators have advised them not to speak with the media.
Deputies believe this was a targeted attack, as they continue to investigate.
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