Three men indicted in kidnapping, murder of a missing South Florida aircraft mechanic

A federal grand jury on Monday indicted three Broward County men on charges that they conspired to murder a Miami-Dade aircraft mechanic whose body was found in Big Cypress National Preserve last month.

Before the discovery of his body on Nov. 21, Suren Seetal, 36, hadn’t been seen since leaving work at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport on Nov. 2, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

That’s the day prosecutors say 18-year-old Gavin Hunter, one of the three men charged, waited for Seetal inside a warehouse in Margate and shot him.

According to the indictment, 24-year-old Somjeet Christopher Singh, also known as “Lil Chris,” gave Avin Seetaram, 24, who also goes by “Smalls,” $5,000 to pay Hunter to kill Seetal.

Each man is charged with murder for hire, kidnapping conspiracy, kidnapping and obstruction of justice. If convicted, they face a mandatory sentence of either life in prison or the death penalty, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

The motive for the murder was because at least one of the men owed Seetal money. The amount owed was not mentioned in the indictment, and the criminal complaint against the men was not immediately available.

After Seetaram paid Hunter to pull the trigger, Singh “extinguished” a debt of $10,000 owed to him by Seetaram, the indictment states.

Prosecutors say Seetal was lured to the warehouse, located at 5441 Northwest 15th Street, by a text sent to him by Seetaram, which contained a photograph of a key inside a drawer.

The obstruction charges are from all three men lying to FBI agents about their involvement in Seetal’s murder, kidnapping and the disposal of his body, the indictment states.

According to Seetal’s LinkedIn page, he was a aircraft mechanic working at both Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport and Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport.

His family had been offering a $25,000 reward for information about his whereabouts.