Sadly, her decomposing body was found under a bridge in Steadfast
STEADFAST, Stann Creek District, Mon. Sept. 3, 2018– The search for Sherris Stringham, 67, an American national who was living in Hopkins, Stann Creek District, and who has been missing from her home in the village since last Saturday, came to a sad conclusion at about 11:30 Saturday morning.
Police have charged three teens with her murder, and are looking for a fourth teen.
Stringham’s decomposing body was found under a bridge in Steadfast, between Mile 18 and 19 on the Stann Creek Valley Road, Stann Creek District.
Police said that they found Stringham’s decomposing body lying face up in some bushes under the bridge. She was taken to an area where an onsite postmortem exam was carried out yesterday by Dr. Mario Estradaban and his team.
At the conclusion, the cause of her death was certified to be traumatic asphyxia as a result of multiple rib fractures and sterna body puncture to the chest.
Her son and a few other family members of hers from the United States are expected to arrive in the country to take her back to her hometown for burial.
We had reported that last Saturday that Stringham and her friends were supposed to have gone to do an activity in the village, but she never showed up. They began to get worried over her absence and went to her house to see what was happening. They found that her house had been ransacked, her wallet was empty, her vehicle was missing, and she was nowhere to be found. So, her friends reported her missing on Sunday.
Superintendent Leslie Wade, Commander of Stann Creek District Police, said that on Sunday, one of Stringham’s workers called her, but she was not answering her phone after being missing since Saturday.
Superintendent Leslie Wade said that they went to Stringham’s house and along with a Justice of Peace, went into the house and saw that her house had been ransacked, although her empty purse and passport were found in the house.
Police suspected foul play, and they and her friends formed a search party and began to search for her in the off-roads and in many areas, but the effort was fruitless.
The commander said that they sent a notice to all police formations to be on the lookout for Stringham’s vehicle, which is a grey Nissan Exterra.
On Thursday, her vehicle was found abandoned in the bushes near the overpass in Orange Walk Town.
According to a report on FOX 4 News of Kansas, USA, Saturday, “[Belize] Police told the family that she caught four teenagers attempting to break her fence, and one of them struck her in the head and she became unconscious. Police say the teens ransacked her home, dumped her body and took her SUV for a joyride before trying to set it on fire. The SUV was found abandoned along a dirt road on Thursday. Police have arrested four teens, but no one has been charged yet”.
FOX 4 reported that Stringham was enjoying retirement after decades of working as a school bus driver and cashier at a grocery store. Matthew Hall, her son, said she wanted to retire somewhere tropical, and chose Belize after researching and visiting the country.
Her son said that she was very happy in Hopkins and sent him pictures of her hiking near the waterfalls and enjoying the village.
Today, at the weekly police press brief held at the Raccoon Street Police Station, ACP Joseph Myvette, Head of Crimes Investigation, told us that three teenagers have been arrested and charged with the murder of Sherris Stringham. They are Anthony Nunez, 18; Clayton Nunez, 19; and a minor, 16.
Myvette said that they do not know what condition Stringham was in when she was taken to the area where she was found or whether she had been alive or dead at that point. He said, however, that she has been dead for some days before her body was recovered, according to the doctor.
The three teenagers await their arraignment for Stringham’s murder at the Dangriga Magistrate’s Court.