June 28, 2004 – St. Croix police began investigating a report of a robbery and kidnapping in Estate Hannah's Rest at 6 a.m. Monday, and then it got worse. A little before 1 p.m. they found the body of the reported kidnapping victim, Tomas Melendez Jr., 44, in the bushes off the side of East Scenic Drive.
A police report on the investigation provides the following information:
About 7 p.m. Sunday, two men were in the yard of their mobile home when several armed and masked men dressed in black rushed them and ordered them to the ground. The assailants tied up the two men's hands and feet and took them inside the trailer.
The masked men remained with the two. Police conjecture that the perpetrators were awaiting the arrival of Melendez. At about 9 p.m., he arrived at the trailer with another man and a woman in a 1997 white Toyota Land Rover.
The three reportedly were returning from a cock pit in Estate Glynn. As they got out of the vehicle, the masked men approached and ordered them to the ground.
The police report continues that the woman and other man were then tied up and taken into the trailer, and Melendez was driven away in the Land Rover.
Several assailants reportedly remained in the trailer for several hours with the tied individuals and robbed them of jewelry and money and questioned them about money. Those assailants eventually left, and the tied individuals broke loose around 5:36 a.m. and called police, who initiated a search for Melendez.
At about 12:50 p.m., they found his body.
The Land Rover was found a couple of miles from the body in an embankment off the north side of the road.
Police ask that anyone with information relating to the case call 778-2211, 778-4950 or 911.
The homicide is the 12th on St. Croix and the 20th in territory this year. In all of last year there were nine killings on St. Croix.
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