Latest update February 4th, 2025 5:54 AM
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American woman fails to prove she is dead doctor’s daughter
American woman has so far failed to prove that she is the daughter of late, reclusive Obstetrician/Gynaecologist, Dr Charles Clarence Validen.
The woman, Denise Giannetta, arrived in Guyana over the weekend claiming that she is the doctor’s daughter and sought permission to bury his remains which have been lying at the Lyken Funeral Parlour for the past three weeks.
A young Dr Charles Vailden
She is the 10th person who has come forward claiming kinship with the dead doctor, who has reportedly left millions of dollars in assets.
But parlour officials have refused to hand over the body to those who have shown up so far, since they were not convinced that they were genuine relatives.
They believe that the American woman is the latest ‘pretender’ and had requested that she provide proof of her relationship to the late Dr Vailden, such as a Birth Certificate.
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. However, local officials could find no records of her birth when they checked with the Registrar’s Office and the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation yesterday.
She also could not give the name of the dead doctor’s wife – who is supposed to be her mother – when questioned.
The woman has since contracted a local attorney to look into her interest, since she has indicated that she may have to return to the United States of America without accomplishing her mission, which is to give the doctor a decent burial.
An internet check on Denise Giannetta revealed that she has a troubled past.
She went missing on May 7 last in Connecticut, USA, but was found four days later, safe and unharmed.
The local funeral parlour remains convinced that she is not who she claimed to be since they have been contacted by John Anderson, a former brother-in- law of Dr Validen.
This newspaper managed to obtain an excerpt from an email he sent to the Lyken Funeral Parlour instructing not to hand over the doctor’s body to anyone.
“Dawn, thank you for telling me about this person who claims to be Charles’ daughter. I can confirm that Charles had two children, Jonathan and Claire. Claire died in Canada 2 years ago and Jonathan is at present making his way to Toronto, and once he gets a passport he will be going to Guyana and I will also fly there from Scotland. I will bring with me, Jonathan’s Birth Cert., Claire’s Death Cert., Susan and Charles’ Divorce papers (they were divorced in February 1992) and Susan’s Death Cert.
Please do not allow anyone to bury Charles, as we will take care of this along with yourself when we arrive, and as I said we will have the legal papers to prove who we are, thank you once again, John Anderson (Susan’s Brother).”
John Anderson and the doctor’s son, Jonathan, are expected to arrive is Guyana soon and it is hoped that the doctor and the entire issue will be put to rest.
Denise Giannetta
Dr Validen’s decomposed body was discovered by police in his home at Agriculture Road, Triumph, East Coast Demerara, 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 daily chores.
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. 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.
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