Pretenders queue up as dead doctor’s next of kin

Sep 25, 2012 News

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– American woman claims to be daughter who died two years ago

It’s the stuff that drama movies are made of.  A very reclusive rich man dies leaving a vast estate. He has no wife and of the only children that he had, one is dead and the other had not been heard from for decades.
Of course whoever could prove that they are a close relative and shows enough interest in ensuring that the dead millionaire gets a decent burial stands a good chance of somehow inheriting a fortune.

But like in the movies, there is always the skeptic who would try to put a spoke in the wheel of the fortune seekers.
If the plot sounds familiar-it’s the Guyana version of many Lifetime movies.
It involves the once popular Obstetrician/Gynaecologist, Dr Charles Clarence Validen, whose decomposed body was discovered by police in his home at Agriculture Road, Triumph, East Coast Demerara (ECD) a little over three weeks ago.
The 76-year-old Specialist Obstetrician/Gynaecologist was positively identified by his maid when she arrived at the property to do her usual work.
On that day, the maid, upon arriving at the house, found that everything was as she left it a few days before. The doctor’s room was still locked.
She called for him several times and after receiving no response, she decided to call the police, who arrived swiftly at the scene, at around 09:30hrs. They broke the door to gain access to the bedroom.
Upon entering the room, they found the doctor’s decomposed body lying on the bed.
Now this is where it gets interesting–Lyken Funeral Parlour collected the body as usual and they waited for the next of kin to turn up so that the procedure could be followed; post mortem examination and all.
Days passed and no one turned up. Weeks passed and still no one turned up.
There were reports that the doctor was a very secretive man and initially it was reported that his wife and children were residing overseas.
As it later turned out, Dr. Validen’s wife committed suicide in Scotland a few months ago; his daughter died in Canada two years ago, while his only son is residing in Canada but had suffered some sort of depression and could not be immediately contacted.
In the meantime news began circulating that no one had come forward to claim the body.
This was surprising since the goodly doctor was known to possess great wealth.
But the situation did not last long, for no sooner had the information was filtered fortune seekers began turning up at the funeral parlour claiming kinship.
They even offered to pay for his funeral. But the proprietor of the parlour smelled a rat and refused to release the body, demanding that proper documentation be provided-such as birth certificates- to prove kinship.
In all 10 persons, two of whom claim to be relatives have so far showed up claiming to be close relatives of the deceased doctor and offering to bury him.
But in the most bizarre twist that occurred yesterday, an American woman showed up claiming to be the doctor’s daughter.
Instantly alarm bells began ringing among the funeral parlour staff since they are convinced that the doctor’s daughter was dead.
They had learnt this from his former brother-in-law John Anderson who resides in Norway.
Their suspicions grew stronger when she claimed that she has no relative in Guyana although distant family members of the doctor had turned up.
“Her story is not consistent. She could not even remember her ‘mother’s’ name. She was shaking and very nervous when I asked her about her mother’s maiden name,” said a parlour employee, who expressed the belief that the woman is being paid to say that she is the doctor’s daughter.
Kaieteur News understands that the 39-year-old woman claimed that she was born in Canada but in fact her American passport showed that she was born in Guyana.
“Come on you must know where you were born,” said the funeral parlour employee.
To compound matters internet checks revealed that the woman is a troubled individual who was reported missing on May 8 this year but was found four days later.
“Something just was not right.”
This newspaper was reliably informed that the local police as well as the American and Canadian diplomatic missions in Guyana have been informed about the developments.
“There are too many persons coming forward without documentation to prove relationship. We cannot bury the doctor without covering ourselves as a funeral parlour should the real relatives turn up.”
The ‘daughter’ from America was told to return with proper documentation in order to claim the body.
Meanwhile, the story has almost reached its climax, with the dead doctor’s brother in law contacting the parlour last evening with the news that the dead man’s son, Jonathan Validen, had been found living in Manitoba, Canada.
As it turned out Jonathan has an 11-year old son living in Barbados and they are as close to next of kin than all the pretenders.
They have instructed that the funeral be put in hold until they arrive in Guyana to give Dr. Validen a proper burial.
The late Dr. Validen died leaving millions of dollars in properties and cash.

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