More clues emerge in Homestead woman’s Central Florida carjacking. She is believed to have been killed
A green Acura captured on video at the scene of an armed carjacking that investigators believe led to a Homestead woman’s tragic murder in Central Florida last week is now linked to the shooting death of a tow-truck driver a day earlier in another county.
Katherine Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvivas, 31, was kidnapped Thursday evening at the intersection of East Lake Drive and Tuskawilla Road in unincorporated Seminole County. She hasn’t been seen since.
Prior to stopping at a red light, Aguasvivas, a hair-salon owner, called her husband and told him she was being followed by a green Acura sedan that repeatedly rammed into the back of her SUV, according to authorities.
VIDEO OF CARJACKING
Once she pulled over, a man wearing a black hoodie and what appeared to be Halloween mask hopped out of the Acura holding a gun, pointing the weapon at Aguasvivas and climbed into the backseat of her white Dodge Durango.
The Durango, with the Acura following, then drove from the intersection. A person in a vehicle behind the Acura filmed what they presumed to be a carjacking on cellphone video widely shared online.
Later that day, investigators revealed the Durango was found torched with a burned body inside it at a construction site in Osceola County. Witnesses also reported hearing gunshots before the SUV was found. Police suspect the body is Aguasvivas but are still waiting on results from a DNA test and dental records.
Additionally, investigators believe Aguasvivas was targeted — but they don’t know why.
ACURA LINKED TO TWO MURDERS?
Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma told reporters Monday the 2002 green Acura has been located, and that it is believed to be connected to the shooting death of a tow-truck driver the day before Aguasvivas was carjacked. The car was found parked in an Orange County apartment complex.
“We immediately knew it was our car,” Lemma said.
The reason they knew: there is only one 2002 green Acura registered in Florida, Lemma said, adding that this particular car had been circulating unregistered since February.
The tow-truck driver hauled the car away in Orange County in March. He was found shot to death last Wednesday, Lemma said. Spotted at the scene were hundreds of rounds of ammunition, including spent 10 millimeter bullet casings, Lemma noted, the same caliber found at the location of the charred Durango.
The ammunition is not as commonly used as bullets like 9 millimeters or .45 calibers, according to Lemma.
DEPUTY ARRESTED
In another bizarre development in the case, Seminole County deputies on Monday also announced the arrest of an Orange County deputy believed to have illegally accessed information about the lead investigator in the case and passed those details on to Aguasvivas’ husband, Miguel.
It turns out Miguel Aguasvivas is childhood friends with the Orange County deputy’s wife. Seminole County detectives called the number that was on a for-sale sign on the Durango, and her husband picked up. They told him about their investigation, and he said he would drive up from Homestead to Seminole County.
On the way up, he called his childhood friend. She contacted her husband, Francisco Estrella, who contacted Seminole County investigators saying he was a detective working the case and was looking for information. Estrella also illegally accessed the state’s law-enforcement database and pulled unique information about the main Seminole County detective, including his home address.
Estrella allegedly provided this information to Miguel Aguasvivas. Seminole County investigators only found out about Estrella after Miguel Aguasvivas voluntarily turned over his phone to them, Lemma said. Estrella was arrested Sunday on felony counts, and has been placed on leave without pay, Orlando’s News 6 reported.
‘HE KNOWS A LOT MORE THAN HE’S SHARED’
Miguel Aguasvivas told detectives that his wife was traveling to Central Florida to visit family — although investigators have yet to establish if she had any family in the area.
Lemma stressed Monday that Miguel Aguasvivas is not a suspect or person of interest but noted that he believes he has not been completely forthright with information to date.
“Quite frankly, I think he knows a lot more than he’s shared,” Lemma said.