Slain man with plastic bag over head ID’d as construction worker who had lived in Venezuela

Jun 15, 2020 News

– had intended to send money back to family while working in Guyana

Andy Williams, his wife and two of the couple’s daughters.

by Michael Jordan

The mystery surrounding the identity of the dead man who was found last week at Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara with his head tied in a plastic bag has finally been solved.
Yesterday, detectives accompanied a Zeeburg, West Coast Demerara family to the Ezekiel Funeral Home, where family members identified the victim as Andy Williams, a Guyanese who had returned from Venezuela four months ago.
A postmortem, likely to be conducted today, will ascertain how the 45-year-old construction worker met his end.
But Divisional Commander of Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Coast Demerara) Simon McBean said that police are still to ascertain whether this is a case of foul play.
“We are going where the evidence takes us. So far, we have established when he left home and when he was last seen alive.”
A niece of the dead man told Kaieteur News that her uncle had migrated to Venezuela 26 years ago. He was living in Puerto Diaz, Venezuela with his wife and four daughters.
But with Venezuela hit hard by economic and political upheaval, her uncle, unable to find work, returned to Guyana on February 23, last. He resided at a sister’s home at Zeeburg, West Coast Demerara, and would travel daily to the East Coast of Demerara to work with a cousin in the construction industry.
She recalled that her uncle recently indicated that he would live on the construction site, rather than travel daily from the West Coast of Demerara.
LEFT FOR WORK
On Saturday, June 6, Williams left his sister’s Lot 136 Zeeburg, West Coast Demerara home, reportedly to go to the worksite.
Relatives weren’t worried when he did not return. They assumed that he was staying with the cousin at the site.
They did become somewhat concerned when he failed to show up the following day (Sunday June 7). He sister tried unsuccessfully to reach Andy Williams on his mobile phone.
Relatives became even more worried when Williams’ wife called from Venezuela to say that she too was not reaching her husband on his mobile phone.
The wife revealed that Mr. Williams had sent her a telephone message on Saturday, June 6. She observed that he remained online until 11 PM that night.
On Sunday, June 7, after confirming that Williams was not at his cousin’s construction site, the sister decided to check at a Zeeburg rum shop that her missing brother frequented. She learned that after leaving her home on Saturday, June 6, her brother had turned up at the drinking establishment that night.
He had left with a bottle of alcohol and a bottle of ‘chaser’.
BODY IN TRENCH

The slain man’s body in the trench

Then, last Saturday, a resident informed the family that the police had fished a body out of a canal at Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara. They were told that a plastic bag was tied over the dead man’s head.
“But we say, it can’t be him, he is quiet, he don’t pick fights,” the niece said.
But when someone showed them a photograph of the dead man, they immediately realised that the victim was indeed Andy Williams.
According to the niece, her uncle was clad in the same clothing that he was wearing when he had left his sister’s home.
According to police, the victim was wearing a burgundy jersey, black track pants with white stripes and a pair of black socks.
Relatives made a positive identification yesterday morning after police ranks accompanied them to the Ezekiel Funeral Home.