28920: Hermantin(news) Haitian woman found dead after being pushed off boat near Jupite (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Haitian woman found dead after being pushed off boat near Jupiter Inlet




By Michelle Sheldone
The Jupiter Courier

August 17, 2006



An undocumented Haitian woman found Wednesday in waters north of Jupiter Inlet 
and later pronounced dead was pushed from a boat, the Palm Beach County 
Sheriff's Office said.

Crew members who apparently smuggled her and at least eight others to South 
Florida ordered them into the water 25 to 50 yards offshore, sheriff's 
spokesman Pete Palenzuela said.

Some voluntarily jumped into the water while others, including the woman who 
died, were apprehensive, Palenzuela said, quoting reports from the survivors.

The woman, in her late teens or early 20s, was found injured. Tequesta 
Fire-Rescue pronounced her dead at the Coast Guard's Lighthouse Park facility 
in Jupiter.

The Palm Beach County Violent Crimes Task Force is investigating her death as a 
homicide; an autopsy is scheduled today.

Eight Haitians were taken into U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody after 
reports of their arrival on Jupiter Island began at 2:50 a.m. A multi-agency 
search for the others continued.

Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel