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Hijacked car found, driver missing
– two passengers in custody
Up to press time, investigators were trying to locate 17-year-old Dhanraj Latchman, a part-time taxi driver who disappeared Wednesday night, and is believed to have been abducted.
Missing: 17-year-old Dhanraj Latchman
Latchman, of Lot 115 Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, had left his home Wednesday afternoon with his father’s white Toyota AT 212, bearing registration number PMM 9823 to transport two male passengers known to him to Parika, East Bank Essequibo, but never returned.
His abandoned car was subsequently found on a lonely street in Parika around 17:50 hrs yesterday by his relatives.
“The police at the Vigilance Station didn’t help us. We went and search all over Parika and when we find it, we call the police and they tell us not to touch it because they have to take fingerprint and my son can even be in the truck. But when they come and check, he wasn’t in there,” Ramnarace Latchman, the teen’s father said.
He further explained that residents in the area told him that the car was parked there around 20:30 hrs Wednesday, but they saw no one.
Kaieteur News understands that the two passengers have since been taken into police custody and are reportedly providing investigators with conflicting reports regarding their last encounter with the teenager.
According to information received, early yesterday, the men claimed that the teen dropped them at a supermarket in Lusignan around 22:00 hrs (Wednesday) and then left to go drop off two other passengers at Enmore.
However, when ranks informed them that they (police) will check the surveillance camera at the supermarket to ensure that they were telling the truth, the men instantly changed their story and claimed that they were dropped off at a school not far from the supermarket.
The discovery of Dhanraj’s vehicle has created even more questions.
Police sources told Kaieteur News that the car was intact, except for one of the seat belts which was severed.
The teen’s parents, Ramnarace Latchman and Lynette Daby are convinced that the two persons in custody have something to do with their son’s disappearance.
The missing youth’s mother
“They (men in custody) did something to my son and they have to find him. My son called their names and say he leaving Parika with them and after that call, I never hear back from him,” the devastated mother lamented.
She explained that her son, who works with his father as a mechanic, uses his father’s car to work taxi part-time.
According to the mother, on Wednesday afternoon her son was at home and informed her that he was going to Parika to transport passengers.
“About 17:00 hrs (Wednesday) I called my son and asked him where he was and he said that he in Parika. I called him again around 20:00 hrs and he said that he was still at Parika and he leaving just now, so I asked him who he with, and he called their names,” a devastated Daby said while standing in front of the Vigilance Police Station yesterday.
“He recently get his licence, so I does call him steady to make sure everything is okay with him,” the mother said.
According to the woman, after her son did not return home around 22:00hrs, she and her husband went to the homes of the men who her son had left to transport.
“When we went to one of them house, he didn’t want to come out, his mother had to force him to come out and when he did, he say that he don’t know where my son is, and then he say that my son left to go Enmore,” the mother said.
Up to late last night, police and relatives were still searching for the missing teenager.
His family is asking anyone who has information on the whereabouts of 17-year-old Dhanraj Latchman to contact family members on 6457261 or the nearest police station.
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