Seara Samantha James
V.I. Police Department detectives said last week that human skeletal remains found in Estate Adrian in August 2012 have been identified as belonging to missing St. John resident Seara Samantha James.
James has been missing since October 2011.
VIPD detectives contacted the James family privately and gave them the opportunity to begin to deal with their loss before releasing the information to the public, according to information from VIPD.
The last time James contacted a family member was around 5 p.m. on October 11, 2011. She was last seen in Cruz Bay at Castaway’s Bar, Nature’s Nook and Mongoose Junction. James’ family filed a missing persons’ report with the VIPD two days later, on October 13, 2011.
On August 1, 2012 hikers discovered skeletal remains in the Estate Adrian area of St. John. VIPD officers sent a DNA sample to the lab at the Federal Bureau of Investigation on August 8, 2012 and received the results the week of January 14, 2013.
St. Thomas/St. John VIPD Chief Darren Foy and St. John Deputy VIPD Chief Maria Colon Jones extended their condolences to the family of Seara Samantha James.
It remained unclear last week whether VIPD officials believe James was killed in the Estate Adrian area or if she died elsewhere and was left in the mid-island location. James’ remains were found in a remote area of St. John, difficult to reach by foot at night.
VIPD officials declined to comment last week on the cause of James’ death, according to a report in the V.I. Daily News.
“We are not elaborating on the cause of her death at this present time because the investigation is ongoing,” VIPD District Chief Foy was quoted in the report. “We have several active leads that we are following up on, and we are not ready to disclose to the general public any more information.”
Anyone with information about the disappearance of James or her death, should call Crime Stoppers USVI at 1-800-222-8477, or VIPD Major Crimes at (340) 715-5545 or (340) 715-5546.