KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Blue Springs native who was missing for close to a week in Hopkins, Belize has been found dead according to her family.
Sixty-seven-year-old Sherris Stringham’s son, said Stringham was found dead under a bridge overnight Saturday (Sept. 1). Police told family that four teenagers were trying to break down a gate outside of her home and she caught them, but she was struck on the head and knocked out.
Police say the teens ransacked her home, dumped her body and took her SUV for a joyride before trying to set it on fire. The SUV was found abandoned along a dirt road on Thursday (Aug. 23).
Police have arrested four teens, but no one has been charged yet.
A news outlet reported earlier this week that Stringham was enjoying retirement after decades of working as a school bus driver and cashier at a grocery store. Son Matthew Hall said she wanted to retire somewhere tropical, and chose Belize after researching and visiting the country.
“She was very happy over there, sending me pictures every day of her hiking the waterfalls and enjoying the village,” Hall told FOX4.
Last Sunday (Aug. 26), when Stringham failed to show up to a softball game, her friends went to her rental to check on her and noticed something wasn’t right.
“They found the house ransacked, a wine glass half-full with her lipstick on it and what appeared to be a white substance and her car was missing,” Hall said.
Family is flying down to Belize this week to bring Stringham’s body back to the U.S. A Gofundme account was created on August 29 to help pay for a private investigator find their mother and to cover other costs. Nearly $15,000 of a $10,000 goal has been donated.
