Bahamian police investigate murder of yacht crewmember. Vessel now in Fort Lauderdale
Bahamian police say the woman, 20-year-old Paige Bell, from South Africa, was reported missing for a short period of time before being found dead on the 142-foot yacht, Far From It, while it was in Harbour Island, Eleuthera, on July 3.
Charged with her death is 39-year-old Brigido Muños, a Mexican national who also worked on the vessel, according to Our News Bahamas.
Per the news outlet, a judge denied Muños' bond, and his next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 20.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force said that Muños had 'severe' wounds to his arms when they found him, and investigators think he tried to kill himself after he killed Bell.
According to the ship tracking site MarineTraffic.com, the Far From It is docked at a Fort Lauderdale marina on the New River this week. Representatives from the company that books trips on the yacht could not immediately be reached for comment.
Renting the yacht, which has a crew of eight and can accommodate 12 guests in its six cabins, costs between $140,000 and $165,000 a week, depending on the time of year, according to The Luxury Charter Group.
It sails to destinations including the the Bahamas, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, the Windward and Leeward Islands and all the way to north to New England, the company says.
Bell's former shipmates from another yacht, the Sweet Emocean, posted on a GoFundMe page set up to financially help her family, that she was going to celebrate her 21st birthday on July 14.
'Paige was more than a teammate, she was family. Her radiant spirit, infectious laughter, and boundless compassion made an unforgettable impact on everyone lucky enough to know her. Whether it was long days at sea or quiet moments under the stars, she brought light and warmth wherever she went,' her former colleagues wrote.
'In this difficult time, we want to come together to support the people she loved most, her family.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
Border crisis shifts to Caribbean: Homeland Security fights silent war in Puerto Rico
Encompassed in vibrantly-hued cerulean water with sandy beaches drying up to a tropical coast with year-round sunshine and ocean breeze swaying palm trees lies the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, where Homeland Security wages the border crackdown that doesn't make any headlines. "We received new enhancements when the big beautiful bill was approved. And we're looking forward to bring additional resources to just work everything," Rebecca González-Ramos, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, told Fox News Digital. "The smuggling loads have gone down drastically since President Trump took over, and we're being stronger [with] immigration enforcement in the island," she continued, before citing that new funding has allowed the HSI to address a previously "high vacancy rate" through various recruitment initiatives. "We don't only work immigration enforcement, but we also investigate transnational organizations that are behind narcotic smuggling and human smuggling, and money laundering," González-Ramos, who made history as the first Puerto Rican woman selected as agent in charge to lead the HSI, added. She also touched on the island of enchantment's proximity to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and how that location in the Caribbean combined with the isle's U.S. territory status makes Puerto Rico an increasingly popular route for smugglers to target – a reality exacerbated by the increased security measures along the U.S.-Mexico border. "Once you get to Puerto Rico, you're one flight away from getting wherever you want to go, because you're already in a domestic part of the United States… You can either stay on the island or you can get to mainland pretty easy. So that's why the Caribbean route, for many of them, it's easier," González-Ramos said. "The Mexico border being closed and [the new] strong enforcement there has not only opened the Caribbean for human smuggling, but it also opened it for drug smuggling," she continued. "We see now a larger fentanyl presence in the island in regards to Mexican organizations moving to the Dominican Republic and to other countries to find different routes for their narcotics to go up to the mainland," the special agent added. When asked about how renewed funding under the Trump Administration and enabled immigration measures have impacted the local migrant population and their activity on the island, González-Ramos cited that most of their investigations have uncovered the involvement of "individuals from foreign countries." "Those foreigners are in charge of the organizations, and they're in charge of transporting the narcotics to the U.S… I'm not saying every foreigner is a threat, but there's lots of foreigners that can be deadly threats to the United States," she continued. "The only way that we can protect our country is by controlling who comes into our country and who leaves our country… People forget about the safety issues on national security, and they don't see foreigners as the threat that they can be." The special agent added, "[People] need to remember that we're federal law enforcement officers, and our mission is to protect the United States - and that's what we're doing."
UPI
5 hours ago
- UPI
U.S. sanctions CDN members, El Makabelico rapper
The Treasury under Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday sanctioned three high-ranking members of the Mexican Cartel del Noreste gang and one associate. File Photo by Annabelle Gordon/UPI. | License Photo Aug. 7 (UPI) -- The United States has blacklisted three high-ranking members and an associated rapper of the notorious Cartel del Noreste, as the Trump administration targets drug trafficking organizations amid it immigration crackdown. The Treasury announced the sanctions Wednesday against Abdon Federico Rodriguez Garcia, 41, CDN's second-in-command; Antonio Romero Sanchez, 41, a high-ranking CDN member; Francisco Daniel Esqueda Nieto, 30, CDN's tactical operations leaded in Nuevo Laredo; and Ricardo Hernandez Medrano, 34, a Mexican rapper known by his stage names El Makabelico or Comando Exclusivo. According to the Treasury, the four individuals are "key" enablers of the CDN's "campaign of violence and narco-terrorism." While the three members blacklisted are accused of directly leading or participating in the gang's drug trafficking and other operations, Medrano is being targeted on accusations that his concerts and events are used to launder money for the gang, with 50% of his royalties from streaming platforms allegedly being directed to CDN. He had millions of followers on YouTube, but his account now seems to have been removed. UPI has contacted YouTube for comment. "CDN depends on these alternative revenue streams and money laundering methods to boost their criminal enterprise, diversifying their income beyond criminal activity like drug trafficking, human smuggling and extortion," the Treasury said in a release. Formerly known as Los Zetas, CDN is a notorious criminal organization based in the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon. Along with drugs, CDN has been connected to human and arms trafficking as well as money laundering and vehicle and oil theft. CDN and seven other cartels were designated foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. State Department in February at the direction of President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order targeting the criminal organizations on his first day in office. Trump campaigned on securing the border from both criminal cartels and irregular migration, often through the use of incendiary rhetoric and misinformation. In May, the Treasury sanctioned two high-ranking members of the gang, including a weapons procurer. "These cartels poison Americans with fentanyl and conduct human smuggling operations along our southwest border," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday in a statement. "Treasury, in close coordination with our law enforcement partners, is committed to a full-frontal assault on the cartels, targeting the leadership and revenue streams that enable their horrific crimes."
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
About 300 migrants start walking north in southern Mexico, but goal is not US border
TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — About 300 migrants walked out of this southern Mexican city Wednesday, hoping to move north, even as the activist who helped organize them remained in police custody over allegations of human trafficking. Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said that Luis García Villagrán, the leader of a local nongovernmental organization arrested Tuesday in Tapachula, 'is not an activist.' She said he was tied to trafficking people, 'that is the crime.' Sheinbaum said Wednesday during her daily news briefing that there had been an arrest order pending for García Villagrán for years. It was unknown why the outspoken and very public figure hadn't been arrested earlier. The group of migrants that left Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala, earlier Wednesday was small in comparison to migrant caravans in years past. There has been very little movement of migrants in public since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, though migration numbers had been falling even prior to that. Those walking Wednesday said their goal was not reaching the United States, but rather central Mexico. They complained that they had been waiting for months to legalize their status or receive asylum. In recent years, the Mexican government has worked to contain migrants in southern Mexico — far from the border with the United States. At times, this strategy has swollen migrant numbers in Tapachula until hundreds set out walking in protest. Chiapas is Mexico's poorest state and migrants complain there is little work or available housing. Johnny López of Ecuador walked with his wife and three children, including a baby born in Tapachula while they awaited a determination on their asylum application, which was eventually rejected. Now they planned to travel to Mexico City where López hoped to find work to support his family. The migrants were escorted by immigration agents, police, marines and paramedics. Heyman Vázquez, a Catholic priest, also accompanied them. He called García Villagran's arrest 'unjust.' Vázquez said it showed the Mexican government's concern over migrant caravans, which he said would be resolved by making it easier for migrants to legalize their immigration status. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at Solve the daily Crossword
