SUEÑO DEL MAR—Police say that Santiago Trapp, 56, of San Pedro, a caretaker of a property in the Sueno Del Mar area of San Pedro who had been reported missing, was found dead at about 1:30 this afternoon, buried in a grave one foot deep about half a mile from the house he had been taking care of, and about 75 feet from the seashore.
According to police, Trapp’s throat had been slit, he had been shot in the head and there were many stab wounds on his body.
The property of which Trapp was caretaker is situated about 13 miles north of San Pedro Town, and it was found completely destroyed by fire.
Trapp was declared dead on the scene and his body was taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital morgue, where it awaits an autopsy to certify the cause of his death.
The gruesome discovery of the body was made by Trapp’s family along with police, who all formed a search party and travelled to the area to look for him after the family reported him missing at about 8:00 Monday night, when he failed to come home. He was last seen about 9:00 Sunday morning in San Pedro.
Police said that they had also received a report of arson in the area. Superintendent Luis Castellanos, Commander of San Pedro police, told Amandala in an interview that on their arrival in the area, they saw that the house on the property where Trapp stayed had been completely destroyed by fire. The owner of the property was present, but Santiago Trapp, the caretaker, was nowhere to be found.
The property owner told police that he went to the property to find Trapp to see what was happening, after he heard that his house had been destroyed, but he couldn’t find him.
Police said that the scene was processed, after which the search party fanned out and began searching the area. Shortly after, about half mile from the burnt house, and about 75 yards from the seashore, they found a shallow grave.
Police quickly cleared away the sand and found that it was the body of Trapp. There was no sign of decay on the body, said police.
Police have since detained four men who they believe can assist their investigation.
Castellanos believes that the gruesome murder was drug-related. He surmised that although Trapp was the caretaker of the property, he may have walked along the beach searching for drugs in the area that had been washed ashore as a result of “wet drops”.
Drug dealers, he believes, may have tortured Trapp and killed him for drugs he may have found.
Trapp is the 71st person this year to be murdered in the Jewel.