Latest update November 23rd, 2024 1:00 AM
Latest News
Degutted bodies to be exhumed
The remains of the three crew members of the Island Princess are expected to be exhumed some time later today.
Mahendra Singh
Rickford Bannister
Sources close to investigations told this newspaper that ranks are expected to visit the burial site where the police were forced to inter the remains.
Relatives of the slain men are also expected to visit with the police to the exhumation.
According to the source, once DNA samples are taken from the remains, the bodies will be handed over to relatives if they so desire.
Meanwhile, some family members of the victims have expressed interest of having the remains so that they could give their loved ones a decent funeral service.
So far police believe that the bodies which were recovered during last week are that of 46-year-old Herstelling resident, Rickford Bannister; trawler captain, Titus Buckley, 46, and 25-year-old engineer, Mahendra Singh. The remains all bore gunshot wounds and were degutted.
Police are still to identify the perpetrators or ascertain why the men were slain.
Still missing and also feared dead is 23-year-old Ryan Chin of Lot 39 Friar’s Rust, Linden.
Although relatives of Titus Buckley and Mahendra Singh have not seen their bodies, investigators were able to confirm their identities from the description of the items recovered.
Kaieteur News understands that investigators were able to trace a cellular phone found on one of the bodies as belonging to Buckley.
Singh’s 17-year-old wife, Ahalia, identified his watch after visiting CID Headquarters, Eve Leary.
According to reports, the crew of the Island Princess had taken the vessel on a trial run to test its seaworthiness for the planned trip to Trinidad.
Titus Buckley
Their employer last heard from them last week Saturday, while the vessel was moored at a place called Parika Beach.
The crew had indicated that they were coming in to port in the Demerara River when they were contacted around 6pm on Saturday.
However, hours later when they did not show up, several attempts to contact them proved futile.
The following day, the owner of the vessel along with other concerned associates made checks at Friendship, where the boat would normally be moored, but it was not there.
Checks were also made at Parika, since it was felt that the vessel had developed mechanical problems and was towed there. Again it was not found.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Let us not be silent witnesses!
…Peeping Tom kaieteur News- Ray Daggers walked from Corriverton to Charity. It was a journey so epic it might have... more
Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – There is an alarming surge in gun-related violence, particularly among younger... more
Weekend Cartoon
