WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. – A body has been discovered following the Thursday carjacking and kidnapping of a Homestead woman in Central Florida, Seminole County Sheriff Dennis M. Lemma confirmed at a news conference Friday.
Lemma said the body was found inside a burning vehicle at a construction site near Boggy Creek Road in Osceola County, and while lab tests need to come back, authorities believe the body is that of 31-year-old Katherine Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvias, who is originally from the Dominican Republic.
WATCH: Authorities provide update on case:
Authorities said a witness took cellphone video of the carjacking just before 6 p.m. Thursday at the intersection of East Lake Drive and Tuskawilla Road in Winter Springs.
The video shows an armed man in a black hoodie, wearing what appears to be a Halloween mask, pointing a weapon at Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvias, who was driving a white Dodge Durango.
He then gets into the backseat behind the driver.
A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said the driver of a green Acura sedan with an obscured license plate, which the suspect had initially gotten out of, followed immediately behind the Durango as they all left the area.
Authorities said the Durango had a “for sale” sign on it and a phone number written in plain view on the back window.
They described both suspects as “white or Hispanic” males.
According to Lemma, Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvias called her husband prior to her kidnapping, saying someone was following her and ramming their car into the back of her SUV.
Lemma said the husband told Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvias not to stop the vehicle, but said neither the husband or wife called 911.
According to the sheriff, the carjacker appears to have ordered Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvias to drive to the construction site in Osceola County, where people called 911 to report that they heard gunshots and saw smoke.
Authorities arrived to the location and found a burning vehicle with a body inside. Detectives believe the scorched vehicle is the Durango and the body is that of Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvias.
Twelve shell casings and one projectile were also located at the scene, the sheriff said.
Lemma said detectives have been speaking with Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvias’s husband, who said she drove up to Seminole County to visit relatives.
Lemma, however, said they have not been able to find any blood relatives in the area.
According to the sheriff, the victim left South Florida around noon and had only been in Seminole County for less than an hour before the carjacking.
He said a motive for the killing remains unclear, however detectives believe this was not a random act and that the killers knew exactly who they were following.
While many questions remain unanswered, Lemma said the victim’s husband is cooperating in the investigation and he and Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvias do not have any criminal history in the U.S.
Local 10 News has learned that Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvias worked as a nail tech at the Dominican Beauty Room Salon & Spa in Homestead and her husband works as a barber.
Anyone with information about the victim’s murder is asked to contact the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.