CHRISTIANSTED — Police are investigating after a St. Croix resident’s body was found in “an advanced stage of decomposition” in Christiansted town on Monday afternoon.
Ade E. Raphael, 33, was positively identified by next of kin as the deceased man, the Virgin Islands Police Department said today.
The 911 Emergency Call Center received a message at 4:29 p.m. asking for police assistance with an unresponsive male on North Street, Christiansted, according to the VIPD.
“Upon police arrival it was observed the body of a male on the floor in a seated position with a cloth belt tight around his neck,” VIPD Communications Director Glen Dratte said. “The body was in an advanced stage of decomposition.”
Police have tentatively ruled Raphael’s death a suicide, according to Dratte.
On social media, Raphael said that he lived in Kingshill.