Authorities launched a murder investigation after the discovery of a Wantagh woman’s body in Turks and Caicos.

Officials on the Caribbean island say Marie Kuhnla, of Wantagh, was found a week ago in the bushes near the Club Med Resort.

Kuhnal, 62, who lived on Beech Street, was on vacation with two women she worked with as a legal aid attorney for Suffolk County. She was reported missing Monday, Oct. 15 and found the next day.

Authorities provided little information on the circumstances surrounding Kuhnal’s death. Family members told News 12 that they were frustrated with the process.

Her brother, Peter, called her a “terrific woman.”

“She was one of the smartest, hardest working people I’ve ever known,” he told News 12. “She was an outward thinker. She became a career professional woman before it was chic to do such.”

Kuhnla lived with her husband in Wantagh. Her family told News 12 that she had gone to law school later in life, working for 15 years as a public defender for Suffolk County's legal aid system.

She is also the mother to a son who lives in California.