St. Thomas Burn Victim Airlifted To Mainland, Incident Remains Shrouded In Mystery

ST. THOMAS — A woman who sustained second degree burns was airlifted to the U.S. mainland  because of the severity of her injuries, VIPD Public Information Officer Kevin Jackson announced on Wednesday.

But the incident remains shrouded in mystery as police here provided Jackson with scant details; leaving the remaining portions of what actually happened to one’s imagination.

According to the report, at roughly 2:40 a.m. on Sunday, August 16, officers with the Criminal Investigation Bureau were summoned to the Roy Lester Schneider Hospital in response to the report of a woman having sustained second degree burns to her face, chest and arms.

The report added that the burn victim had been sedated and was unable to speak with officers. However, the victim’s boyfriend indicated that she came home sometime after 2:00 a.m., smelling heavily of smoke and when he looked closely at her face, he saw that it was burned. The boyfriend said he then hustled to gathered their two minor children and drove them all to RLSH.

The victim’s boyfriend said he had no idea how she got burned, and added that he became aware, while at the hospital, that her vehicle had been discovered completely burned in the parking lot of the Evelyn Marcelli Elementary School.

The burn victim was eventually air-lifted to the U.S. mainland for treatment by MASA, while the incident is under investigation by both the VIPD’S Criminal Investigation Unit and the Fire Investigator with the Virgin Islands Fire Service.