Authorities believe they have found the body of a woman whose carjacking at gunpoint in central Florida was caught on camera, moments after she called her husband to say she was being followed.
Katherine Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvivas, 31, was stopped at a red light in Seminole County on Thursday when a gunman forced his way into her white Dodge Durango.
Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma said the shooter was wearing a black hoodie and a “ski-style mask” and carrying what appeared to be an automatic weapon.
Authorities believe the shooter had exited a green Acura that was directly behind De Aguasvivas’ vehicle, Lemma said at a news conference Friday.
Cellphone footage captured by a witness in another vehicle showed the gunman pointing the gun at the driver’s side of De Aguasvivas’ car and then getting into the back seat.
When the light turned green, De Aguasvivas made a U-turn and the Acura followed.
“She makes a U-turn at that intersection, probably heading, speculation here, but probably going in a direction where the suspect doesn’t want them to go and we suspect he orders her to turn around again and get closer to the intersection again,” , the sheriff told reporters.
De Aguasvivas then began driving toward a new construction area that authorities believe the suspects were familiar with. About an hour and 45 minutes after the incident in the video, officers were called to the area to report a vehicle on fire.
Lemma said there was so much damage to the car that “we were unable to positively identify the vehicle.” A body was located inside that authorities believe to be that of De Aguasvivas, he said, noting that DNA and dental records need to confirm the victim’s identity.
Twelve shell casings from a firearm were also found at the scene.
It is unclear when the Acura began following De Aguasvivas, but Lemma told reporters that this was not a random incident and that the suspects “knew exactly who they were following.”
“We are meeting again to try to explain why,” he said.
Before the car was stolen, De Aguasvivas called her husband to tell him that someone had rear-ended their vehicle and was following her, the sheriff said. Her husband allegedly told her not to stop anywhere, but neither of them called 911, Lemma said.
“There are a lot of unknowns, a lot of things that will leave people scratching their heads,” he said. “Why didn’t she and her husband call 911? I don’t know. Why did she stop at a red light? There are many things we will never know, but this is a tragic incident nonetheless.”
Investigators believe De Aguasvivas, of Homestead in Miami-Dade County, left South Florida shortly after noon Thursday and arrived in Seminole County around 3:30 p.m. She stopped briefly at a Shell gas station before continuing her trip, the sheriff said.
Her husband said she was in central Florida to visit family, according to Lemma. The sheriff said the husband did not provide the names of family members and authorities were not aware of any relatives living in the area.
De Aguasvivas and her husband are associated with two businesses, a barber shop and a beauty salon. The sheriff said none of them have a criminal record in the United States.
“There is no clear indicator of why someone would do this, why they would attack them,” he said.
Detectives are still searching for the Acura and asked anyone with information to contact the sheriff’s office.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
