New, perplexing details emerge about wife found dead after carjacking: ‘Right out of a television show’
The Florida woman who was found dead in a burned vehicle after she was abducted during a brazen, broad-daylight carjacking at a busy intersection last week had called her husband to say someone was following her and had rammed into her car, police said.
Katherine Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvivas and her husband, however, did not call 911 after speaking on the phone before she was kidnapped last Thursday, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office said as it provided an unsettling update to the mysterious, caught-on-camera crime.
The vehicle used in the fatal carjacking was located over the weekend — and linked to another murder, all while a deputy from another sheriff’s office was arrested for disclosing information about Aguasvivas’ killing to her husband, Sheriff Dennis Lemma said Monday, according to NBC Miami.
“This is right out of a television show, right?” Lemma told reporters. “There’s a lot of bizarre circumstances here.”
Horrifying video captured the 31-year-old being taken from her white Dodge Durango by an armed assailant around 6 p.m. last Thursday.
Aguasvivas, a native of the Dominican Republic, was a US citizen who lived with her husband in Homestead, southwest of Miami.
When she called her husband, Miguel Aguasvivas, about a green Acura ramming into her car, he told her to continue driving and not stop, authorities said.
Video taken by a witness shows Aguasvivas stopped at a red light as a man in a mask got out of the Acura and approached her car with a gun drawn.
The man pointed the gun at Aguasvivas before getting into the back of the car and forcing her to drive at gunpoint, authorities said.
Less than two hours after the carjacking, authorities received a call reporting a vehicle on fire in a construction area — only to find the Durango with a body inside.
Authorities believe the body is Aguasvivas, but are awaiting an official confirmation from DNA or dental records.
The green Acura — the only one of its kind in Florida — was found abandoned on Saturday in Orlando.
A vehicle matching its description was at the scene of the murder of tow truck driver Juan Luis Cintron Garcia, 39, in Orange County on April 10, a day before Aguasvivas was killed, authorities said.
“I absolutely think they’re connected but we’ll have to have physical evidence that absolutely proves that,” Lemma said.
In another twist, an Orange County deputy was arrested Sunday and charged with five felonies after he was accused of leaking information about the investigation to Aguasvivas’ husband.
Deputy Francisco Estrella, a family friend of Aguasvivas’ husband, is accused of providing him with details of the investigation, including the lead detective’s home address.
“What they had to gain is something that I’m incredibly interested in,” Lemma said. “Why would somebody do this? Why would they put their own job and life on the line to communicate with one of our detectives, to give an alias in the process? It’s incredibly frightening.”
Lemma noted that Aguasvivas’ husband has been cooperative and is not currently a person of interest — even though he feels he hasn’t been entirely truthful.
“Quite frankly, I think he knows a lot more than what he shared,” Lemma said. “You don’t have your wife communicate with you that you’re getting rammed by a car and go two hours without calling anybody.”
Lemma said the husband handed over his phone to authorities, which led to the discovery of Estrella’s involvement and his arrest.
Investigators are still perplexed by her husband’s explanation of her trip, which he alleges was to see family.
“I think the initial story was that she was up here to visit family members. I don’t know that we believe that,” Lemma said. “I think that there’s a lot more blanks that he could help fill in about the circumstances involving this particular crime and now potentially other crimes.”
Lemma said his office is investigating whether the case could be linked to gang or cartel members.
Authorities have not determined a motive for the killing, but Lemma said it appears the occupants of the Acura knew whom they were targeting.
“We still have incredibly dangerous people that are out there on the streets. We still want to encourage our public to again not approach these individuals, they should be perceived as armed and dangerous,” Lemma said.
