A Florida woman who was robbed of her car in broad daylight in a tense moment captured on video is believed to have been found dead in a badly burned car.
Katherine Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvivas, 31, of Homestead, was abducted at a busy intersection shortly before 6 p.m. on April 11.
A witness in a car behind her filmed the daytime confrontation and then called 911.
Footage shows a man wearing a balaclava and black hoodie getting out of an Acura sedan and approaching the driver’s side of Guerrero’s Dodge Durango, pointing a 10mm handgun at her. When Guerrero opens the doors, the man climbs in through the rear driver’s side door.
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office detectives say the man got into the passenger seat before Guerrero resumed driving, while another man followed in the Acura sedan.
Remains believed to belong to Guerrero were found in a badly charred car hours later, and police continue to search for suspects in the brutal murder.
Katherine Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvivas, 31, is presumed dead following a kidnapping at a Central Florida intersection on April 11.
The video shows a man wearing a fur mask get out of a green Acura behind Guerrero’s car and point a gun at him before climbing through the rear driver’s door.
Investigators believe the suspect ordered Guerrero to drive to a construction site, where a badly burned vehicle with a body inside was found later that day.
At a news conference Saturday, Sheriff Dennis M. Lemma said he was shocked by the images.
“It’s incredibly terrifying to see the audacity of this suspect, this perpetrator getting out of the car, hooded, carrying a gun in broad daylight, getting into the vehicle,” Lemma said.
In a 911 call released by the sheriff’s office, the witness urges: ‘You have to do something now because I don’t know what’s going on.’
Less than two hours after the carjacking, police received reports of gunshots and smoke in Oceola County.
A badly charred vehicle, believed to be the Dodge Durango, was found at a construction site. While the body found inside has not yet undergone formal DNA identification, police believe it is Guerrero.
A dozen 10-millimeter bullet casings and a projectile were also found at the scene.
“There’s no clear indicator as to why anyone would do this,” Lemma said. ‘But we feel and believe… that this was not a random act of violence. The perpetrators knew exactly who they were chasing and why they were chasing them.’
Guerrero was a native of the Dominican Republic and was a United States citizen. She lived with her husband in Homestead, a suburb of Miami, where they both worked in a barbershop and a beauty salon.
The carjacking occurred just four days before his 32nd birthday.
Investigators believe the 31-year-old woman was attacked and say her husband told her to keep driving when she told him her car was being stolen.
Guerrero had stopped at a red light at the time of the robbery. Police say another man followed her in the Acura sedan as she drove to the construction site.
Guerrero’s husband said she was in the area to visit family, although investigators were unable to identify any relatives in Central Florida.
The 31-year-old man came from the Dominican Republic and was a U.S. citizen. She and her husband lived in Homestead and worked in a barbershop and beauty salon.
Moments before stopping at a red light, Guerrero called her husband and told him the Acura was following her and crashing into her SUV, Lemma said. Her husband told her to continue driving.
Investigators believe the gunman forced her to drive to the construction site and that the suspect was familiar with the area.
Lemma added that neither Guerrero nor her husband called the police at the time of the incident.
“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 the red light? There are many things we will never know, but it is still a tragic incident.’
Authorities have not released any further details about the suspects in the case.
Lemma said investigators don’t know where Guerrero was headed.
Her husband told police she was in Central Florida to visit family, although investigators were unable to locate any relatives in the area.
The sheriff noted that Guerrero’s husband has cooperated with police and has no criminal record in the United States.