ST. CROIX — The vehicle stolen from St. Croix calypsonian Karen “Lady Mac” McIntosh Bruce during a terrifying armed carjacking has been recovered, and the external hard drive she feared losing permanently that contained documentary interview footage and musical ideas she had been working on was found inside.
Bruce, who was crowned the St. Croix Calypso Monarch for 2024, learned her red Toyota Corolla Cross had been located Saturday morning. The license plates had been removed and replaced with someone else’s plates, but the car was otherwise recoverable. She was able to drive it home using a spare key since the original was not found.
“I don’t really feel safe with the car because they didn’t get the key,” she said, noting she plans to change the locks.
Also recovered were personal belongings Bruce had given up on seeing again, including jewelry and carry-on luggage containing new clothes. Her phone was not among the recovered items. She said she believes it was discarded somewhere in Christiansted. But it was the external hard drive that mattered most.
“I am happy,” she said about getting her vehicle back. “The most I’m happy about is that external hard drive.”
The drive contained interview footage Bruce had been gathering for a documentary on St. Croix music history. It included material on her late father, Sylvester “Blinky” McIntosh — a guitarist and saxophonist who died in 2017 — whose legacy as a culture bearer and quelbe artist she has been working to preserve on film. The drive also held an interview with the late Richard Schrader Sr., whose funeral was held Friday, making that footage even more irreplaceable. Along with the documentary material, Bruce had saved musical ideas to the drive — melodies she had heard in her head, sung into her phone, and transferred over for safekeeping.
“I’m so happy that I got that,” she said.
Bruce had been in the government parking lot in the late hours of April 22, after wrapping a role in a film. She had arrived on set at 6 p.m. that evening and left around 11 p.m., in high spirits after what she described as a memorable experience that included an impromptu karaoke performance that had the entire film crew on their feet. She also noted meeting actor Mario Van Peebles during the shoot.
After leaving the set, Bruce said she ran into her girlfriend inside the casino and the two spent some time together before walking to Bruce’s car in the government parking lot. They were standing near the vehicle talking when the attack happened.
“Guys came from behind my car,” Bruce said, noting they were dressed in black and had their faces covered. “It was two of them.”
She said one of them had a gun. With her back to the gunman, Bruce said she noticed something was wrong when she saw her girlfriend drop to the ground.
“When I turned around, he repeated ‘get on the ground, get on the ground,’” she said. “He was like 3 feet away from me, with the gun pointing at me. So, I just dropped to the ground, dropped my bag, and I wasn’t looking at him any further.”
Bruce said she did not know if the man was going to shoot her.
“My life just like flashed in front of my eyes,” she said. “I had a brother that was murdered. I’m thinking of my mother. My poor mother have to go through this again. But soon enough, I heard the car door close and the car start.”
The gunman took the car. Bruce, still on the ground, said she had to scoot across the gravel to avoid being run over as her vehicle pulled away.
With their phones and belongings taken, Bruce said she and her girlfriend ran out of the parking lot. She said a man entering the parking lot let her use his phone to call 911.
Bruce said the psychological toll has been severe.
“I keep seeing what happened,” she said. “I can’t get it out of my mind.”
She said she has not even cried, noting others have cried for her.
“I’m numb, I’m angry, I’m hurt,” she said.
Asked what she would say to the people who did this to her, Bruce did not hesitate.
“It’s not just that a car is missing,” she said. “You’re like hurting people, and that’s something that stays with the person for the rest of their lives.”
She urged them to think about the human cost of what they had done.
“Think like if somebody did that to your mother,” she said. “And it’s not like they just took the car; they made us get down on the ground. And then pointing the gun at you; that’s traumatic.”
For Bruce, the incident has also shaken her sense of safety in a community she has called home her entire life.
“I remember being younger — everybody looked out for you,” she said. “If somebody did you something, somebody’s going to talk up. They’re going to chastise that person.”
Despite everything, Bruce expressed gratitude for the work of the Virgin Islands Police Department.
“I’m thankful to the VIPD,” she said. “I guess they’ll be working to find out who the robbers are, so it’s not over.”
