Roatan residents are mourning the loss of Nedenia Dye, the proprietor of Baan Suerte Spa in Sandy Bay, Roatan. According to reports from staff and police, on December 22, 2013, Nedenia's body was found in her bathroom with multiple stab wounds in the back. Police have arrested Lenin Roberto Arana Carlos who was found driving Nedenia's car with blood-soaked clothing. Staff report Arana leaving the property in the car in the middle of the night.

Roatan police chief Alex Madrid reports, "Senora Dye was murdered by Lenin Roberto Arana Carlos, also known as the musician Canario, with whom she was in a romantic relationship. We believe she was a victim of domestic violence. He allegedly killed her because he wanted to get crack. It was apparent he was under the influence of drugs. He has been charged with her murder. Her body has been transferred to the mainland for an autopsy."

"I'm innocent," Arana told local reporters. "Nedenia was like a mother to me. She protected me."

Nedenia Post Dye was the 46-year-old great-granddaughter of business executive, philanthropist and socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post and the great-niece of actress Dina Merrill. A family member says, "She was a generous person, always the life and soul. Nedenia went to Roatan about 15 years ago on the (ship) Sea Cloud and never left, founding an upscale spa. She wanted to help this musician."

"She was a good woman who worked with young people at risk, drug addicts and alcoholics," Madrid said. Nedenia has been an integral member of the local community, as her many friends in Roatan can attest.

Originally from Santa Monica, Calif., Nedenia told an alumni publication of her alma mater, George Washington University, last year that she shared a love of risk-taking and adventure with her great-grandmother, who inherited the cereal company that would become General Foods Inc.

"My friend and I had an idea to start a business," Dye told the alumni magazine. "I wanted to go to Asia but she said `No, Central America is closer. If (the business) fails, we can swim home.'"

No news yet on memorial services at this time. Nedenia will certainly be missed here in Roatan.

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