The Unsolved Murder Of Hector Rivera, Jr

At approximately 11:30 p.m. on June 8th, 2003, Hector Rivera, Jr., was driving a white 2002 GMC Envoy in the area of Calquohoun, St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands. Sitting in the front passenger seat of the vehicle was Rivera's girlfriend. Unidentified individuals began firing assault rifles into Rivera's vehicle while it was entering an intersection close to the residence of the girlfriend. Rivera's girlfriend was critically wounded, but survived and Rivera was killed. Rivera was about to testify in a local assault trial in which an individual had previously threatened him and fired a handgun at him at the time of his murder. Rivera was also acting as a government witness in a joint FBI/DEA narcotics investigation. The investigation was targeting a Caribbean drug trafficking organization, based in St. Thomas, which is reputed to be importing cocaine into the United States through the Eastern Caribbean using speedboats and airplanes.