A press conference was held by the Law Enforcement Triangle Bonaire on developments in the investigation into the death of Adriana Morales de Florencio. The case has been given the name “Saturnus”.
Timeline revealed:
Lead investigator Braaf gave details on the timeline from when Adriana Morales de Florencio was reported missing. On Thursday, April 20, the Police Station received notification in the evening hours from the cruise ship Navigator of the Seas that an employee was missing at the time that the ship was about to leave.
Investigation initiated:
From that moment the search began for the missing woman. This included the routine check for missing persons in places such as the hospital and other entities where persons present themselves. Also, the phone of the missing woman was tapped.
During the days that followed more information came in and on that basis, the search was extended and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the next port, Miami, turned to forensic investigations in the cabin of the missing woman and to questioning specific persons.
FBI extend search net:
On Bonaire, the Coast Guard and STINAPA started with the search on sea and Klein Bonaire to rule out that she would have had problems at sea. The next step was to inform the parents and to contact persons who had contact with the missing woman on the ship.
Starting the first weekend of her disappearance, video images were collected from companies in and outside the city centre that had to be viewed one by one, which took a lot of time. This resulted in the missing woman being identified Friday, April 28, in the morning with a man on the video footage.
Man arrested with firearms:
That same day the man was also identified and on the orders of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the judge three house searches were executed in connection with the disappearance of Morales de Florencio, in which an illegal firearm was confiscated. Here also a suspect was arrested in connection with a violation of the Firearms Act.
Body of a woman discovered:
On Saturday, the focus was on a “Kunuku” (farm) with which the suspect is linked, as an investigation by police revealed. Later that Saturday afternoon a search was carried out at this terrain and the buried, lifeless body of a woman was found.
Post-mortem to be performed:
The tattoos on her body were recognized as those of Adriana Morales de Florencio. Her parents were immediately informed and the kunuku closed off for further investigation. It took 12 hours before the body could be extracted from the ground because this had to be done with extreme caution in order to safeguard the investigation.
On Sunday, Adriana’s parents arrived on Bonaire and were received by The Caribbean Netherlands Police Force KPCN and the Island Governor. From that moment on Victim Support was available to them 24 hours per day. Also, a so-called family detective was appointed to be the link at all times between the Police and the family.
Violently murdered:
According to the authorities, the suspect was initially held for violating the Firearms Act during a search in his home. He has been detained and locked up and is now also suspected of murder/manslaughter. There were several searches in his home and at the kunuku.
An autopsy was performed. The preliminary report stated that the victim died by violence, particularly by stabbing and/or cutting with a knife.
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Source: The Daily Herald
