SABA--The authorities in the United States have arrested a former student of Saba University School of Medicine on August 17, in connection with the so-called “Hector” investigation concerning the homicide of Kavya Guda. The 24-year-old student was found dead in her apartment in The Bottom on April 15, 2015.
The man, who was only identified by his initials C.S., was arrested at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. The arrested suspect is a U.S. resident, but does not have American nationality, the Prosecutor’s Office said Tuesday.
The investigations into this case have been ongoing for 16 months. The Police Force Caribbean Netherlands KPCN has worked closely with the Dutch National Police and with the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) in Rijswijk, as well as with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States.
The Prosecutor’s Office said it has “sufficiently strong suspicions” against the suspect. When they received information that C.S. was in the United States, a request for his arrest was made. The U.S. authorities have in the meantime also been requested to extradite the suspect to the Caribbean Netherlands for further investigation.
The Prosecutor’s Office has a “very good and close cooperation with the U.S. authorities,” it was stated. “But the legal procedures which need to be followed before it actually comes to an extradition and transfer to the Caribbean Netherlands could take about six months,” it was added.
“The arrest shows that good progress has been made in the investigation,” the Prosecutor’s Office said. However, the Police and Prosecutor’s Office emphasize that it is still important to share information about this case that has not yet been provided to the Police before. One may call the KPCN tip line at tel. 717-7251.
This is the second arrest made in this to date unsolved case. A 27-year-old student from Canada, who was arrested by the Police on June 1, 2015, was released by an Investigating Judge in Bonaire one month later for lack of evidence.
