The discovery of an unidentified dead man on St. Croix has police asking the community for assistance.
On Friday morning police were alerted to the body of a unknown male in a U.S. Department of Agriculture field in the Bethlehem area, according to St. Croix Deputy Police Chief Novelle Francis.
Francis said the man appeared to be in his late teens or early 20s with shoulder-length locks, a medium build and a height of approximately 5 foot 11 inches to 6 foot 1 inch.
The man was wearing a black sweater, blue jeans, brown shoes and a leather necklace with a key.
Francis didn’t say how or when the man died or if investigators believe foul play was suspected.
But a person who works on the USDA grounds and asked to remain anonymous said police on the scene believed the man may have been shot and wounded during a robbery attempt nearby.
If the man was indeed killed in the last few days, it would be the third murder on St. Croix this week. On Tuesday afternoon, Mannix Phillips, 33, of Mon Bijou was shot and killed when he intervened in a dispute between two brothers at the Aureo Diaz Heights housing community.
On Thursday Vincent Lawrence, 19, was killed by a .38-caliber gunshot wound to the head following an argument over a marijuana plant in the Peppertree Terrace neighborhood. Police have charged suspects with first-degree murder in both incidents.
Phillips and Lawrence’s deaths were the 13th and 14th murders this year in the territory. There have been six killings on St. Croix and eight in the St. Thomas-St. John district.
Police are asking anyone with information concerning the unidentified male found Friday morning to call 911 or 778-2211, ext. 4530.
