MELVILLE, N.Y. _ The death of a Long Island lawyer vacationing in the Caribbean last week is being investigated as a murder, police and officials said.
Marie Kuhnla was reported missing in Turks and Caicos on Oct. 15, the local police department said on its Facebook page Monday night. Her body was found in the bushes near the Club Med resort the following morning and she was pronounced dead a short time later, police said.
Public records show Kuhnla, 62, lived in Wantagh. The Suffolk County Legal Aid Society said she worked for the agency as a family court public defender.
"We are all in disbelief and shock and stunned," said her brother Peter John Chetuck, 57, of Mount Sinai.
"She was a terrific wife, a terrific mother, a terrific family member," Chetuck said. "She did everything correctly, the pristine home, the proverbial great neighbor and community member."
In a statement Tuesday, Club Med said Kuhnla, "a guest staying at the Turks and Caicos resort, passed away last week."
The Caribbean resort, called Turkoise, sits by Grace Bay in Providenciales, an island in the northwest part of the country that is known for clear water and beaches. In January, the State Department warned travelers to "exercise increased caution" in Turks and Caicos. The islands' location, about 600 miles southeast of Miami, has helped its tourism sector develop, experts said.
Kuhnla was traveling with a co-worker and one or two others, Chetuck said. Her friends tried to report her as a missing person on Sunday, but the local police told them they would have to wait 24 hours to file a report, he said.
"By that time, it sounds like her friends and people from Club Med were doing their own thing, helping with the search," Chetuck said. And since then, the authorities have been "very, very tight-lipped."
The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force statement said no further details would be provided.
Kuhnla's son, Rick Kuhnla Jr., in a statement said his mother earned her law degree later in life and worked more than 15 years as a public defender, helping families who otherwise could not have hired a lawyer.
"She was a loving, caring, compassionate woman who I was lucky to have for a mom," he said. "If she saw someone who needed help she would help them."
His mother, her son said, "enjoyed reading, being at the beach, seeing new places, and dining out." And she often visited her mother, "taking her out to eat and keeping her company," he said.
"She was a wonderful woman who brightened the day of everyone who knew her and many who didn't," her son said. "She may be gone but the impact she had on the world and inspiration she provided most certainly is not."
Suffolk County Legal Aid Society trial director Bryan Browns said Kuhnla "had a great, great reputation" helping families.
The State Department, confirming the death of an American citizen in Turks and Caicos, said it was monitoring local authorities' investigation into the cause of death.
"We offer our sincerest condolences to family and friends on their loss," the department said in a statement Tuesday. "We are providing all appropriate assistance to the family."
In the State Department's January statement, it said: "Violent crime, such as armed robbery, shootings, and home invasions, is common. Police presence and emergency response are extremely limited."
Club Med, a major international tourism company, said in its statement that "the local authorities have not given any indication that there is an ongoing threat to our guests or staff."
"The entire Club Med family is saddened by the death of this guest and sends its deepest condolences to the guest's friends and family," the statement said. "The safety, security and well-being of all of our guests remains our highest priority."
Trevor Botting, the acting commissioner of the Turks and Caicos police, said in a statement on the Facebook page that there "is an active investigation into the death of Marie."
Police asked anyone overseas with information to contact the Serious Crime Unit or call Crime Stoppers Turks & Caicos at (649) 232-9151.
"I would also ask that the circumstances of the death of Marie are not subject to speculation, but any information is passed to my officers," Botting said.
Chetuck said his older sister was one of the hardest workers and "book-smartest" people he had known.
"She helps the people that couldn't help themselves; what can you say about that, that was just her," Chetuck said.
Chetuck said he came from a family of five, with two other brothers and two sisters. "I will always have two sisters," he said.
