KINGSTON, Jamaica — The 68-year-old American woman, whose body was last week found in Montego Bay, St James with several stab wound, is believed to have been on the island to collect money that was owed to her.

According to the Corporate Communications Unit (CCU), the media arm of the Jamaica Constabulary (JCF), residents of Ironshore, St James stumbled on the body of Heidi Ann Muth lying on a dirt path in a pool of blood about 10:20 am on Sunday, September 10.

Muth, a retired teacher from California, had been stabbed in the head and upper body.

As of Saturday, no arrests had been made and a motive for the homicide had not been determined, police officials said.

However, according to foreign media reports, Sarah Schiermeyer, said to be close friend of the deceased, said Muth told her that someone in Jamaica owed her money.

“That would be enough for her to go down there,” Schiermeyer said in a phone interview with the Orange County Register on Saturday.

“Everyone said she was throwing good money after bad money. But Heidi would get a bee in her bonnet and was very stubborn about stuff. It’s absolutely horrid what happened to her,” Schiermeyer further explained.

Muth, a widow with two sons and a daughter, had taught history in Orange County schools for 37 years.