Woman's body dumped, set on fire after murder

BRADENTON (FOX 13) - Bits of crime scene tape lay in the grass near 18th Street East and 47th Terrace East in Manatee County, feet away from the scene of a terrible crime.

"This was off the side of the road," said Dave Bristow with the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. "It was enough that somebody noticed a fire.”

Deputies with the Manatee County Sheriff's Office said that fire was set intentionally to cover up the body of 50-year-old Veronica Polite.  She had been murdered and dumped at a homeless camp. 

"How long she was there? Probably not that long. We are submersing it was sometime after midnight," continued Bristow. 

Deputies are working to find out who did this, and why. Meanwhile, her family is heartbroken. 

"I just can't believe they took her away from the house. You know she was blind," said Willie Polite, who’d been married to Veronica for 31 years.  "She can't go to the store, she can't grocery shop or nothing.”

Willie said she was last seen by her nephew at her City Walk apartment in Bradenton. But since she is legally blind, he said she could only walk around her home and sit on the patio. 

He doesn't understand why anyone would do her harm. 

"Nice sweet woman. She really was a nice sweet woman," he added. 

Anyone with information is asked to call the MCSO at 941-747-3011 or Crime Stoppers at 866-634-TIPS.