Carmen Torres, a 50-year-old Hispanic woman, died on September 13, 1986, in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, after being poisoned with cyanide. Her husband, Edsel Striden, was found dead in his pickup truck on a nearby beach the same night; both had clothing soaked with seawater and autopsies showed cyanide poisoning. The couple had owned a small neighborhood bar and had taken out a $54,000 cash loan to expand their business; the money was missing after their deaths. Their daughter last saw them when they left home that evening; Edsel reportedly slipped a small bottle into his pocket before they departed.

Carmen was found near death less than half a mile from the spot where another victim, Radha Maharaj, would be discovered two years later and died en route to the hospital. These deaths fit a pattern on St. Croix between 1984 and 1988 in which victims were allegedly lured into handing over large sums of money to a mysterious figure connected to Obia practices and then died from cyanide. No arrests have been announced and the perpetrator, known in reports as The Obia Man, remains unidentified. Does anyone have information about the St.

Croix poisonings or knew Carmen and Edsel that could help clarify what happened?