Manatee County deputies are asking for the public’s help solving a gruesome crime. A blind woman was found dead in the woods and her body had been set on fire.
On Sunday night, 50-year-old Veronica Polite was last spotted sitting on her patio. Her husband Willie tells News Channel 8 she didn’t get out much.
“She was legally blind, she couldn’t see. She couldn’t see nothing,” said Willie Polite.
Cataracts caused her to go blind a few years ago.
“She’d walk out here sit on the patio then walk in the house. She can’t go to the store, she can’t grocery shop or nothing. She can’t cook or nothing,” Polite added.
Sometime around 11:30 Sunday night, Veronica Polite’s nephew heard her talking to a man outside. Soon after, she vanished.
“Somebody that knew her took her away from that house,” said Polite.
Just after 1 a.m., Polite was found dead in a wooded area off 18th Street East. Deputies say she was murdered and her body was set on fire.
“How long she was there, probably not that long. We’re surmising it probably happened sometime after midnight,” said sheriff’s office spokesman Dave Bristow.
Officials say there is a homeless camp nearby and this suspect is still at large.
“At this time it appears to be a coincidence that there was a homeless camp up there and someone decided to put this body there,” explained Bristow.
Willie Polite cannot believe someone would do this to his beloved wife of 31 years.
“Nice sweet woman. Tell you, she really was a nice sweet woman,” he said.
Family members are hoping someone can come forward with any information.
“Y’all see what happened. Whoever saw her taken out of the yard, please call the police,” said Polite.
Officials say this was not a random attack, so the public should not be alarmed. An autopsy is being done to determine the cause of death.