PUNTA GORDA, Fri. Dec. 18, 2020– A man who was reported missing on Wednesday, December 16, was found dead the following morning on December 17, at about 8:30 about 3 miles outside of Punta Gorda Town.
Police officers were responding to reports of a burnt vehicle when they found a black Premier Mariner SUV parked on a farm near the roadside, completely burnt, and about a hundred yards away, they found the decomposing body of Darwin Douglas Chavarria, 37.
There were multiple gunshot wounds in Chavarria’s face and his hands were bound with a phone charger wire.
Chavarria’s cousin, Anthony Sedassey, had visited the police station at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday to report him missing, and had indicated that the Cattle Landing resident had not returned home since his departure at 10:00 in the morning.
Police interviewed Chavarria’s common-law wife, Avelina Pratt, 37, who reported that she arrived home at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 16, and upon entering her room, she noticed that the place had been ransacked and that the back door was ajar and damaged.
Investigators say that no sign of blood was seen in the room; however, after conducting an investigation they concluded that a struggle had taken place in the room, and during that struggle a black standing fan base was broken and the backroom door was damaged.
Chavarria’s family believes that robbery was the motive for the break-in and murder, as Chavarria had only recently sold a boat and was in possession of a sizable amount of cash.
It is suspected that Chavarria may have been abducted from his residence, taken to the area where his corpse was found, and killed.