NOT far from where the battered body of 12-year-old Mercedez Layne was found on June 7, human remains were discovered near an oilfield in Santa Flora seven years ago.
The skeletal remains of a woman, and pieces of burnt fabric, were recovered and taken to the Forensic Science Centre in Federation Park. According to the authorities, that body was never identified.
But there is a father in Mamoral, a village in Central Trinidad, who believes the remains are those of his daughter, 20-year-old nursing student Sharday Emmanuel.
Sharday vanished without a trace on the morning of June 27, 2018, eight years ago this past Saturday. The charred remains were found a year later.
By then, Sharday’s father, Junior Emmanuel, was desperately piecing together his daughter’s life — retracing her steps, talking to friends and discovering heartbreaking secrets.
Emmanuel contacted the Southern Homicide Division requesting permission to view the remains.
The father was invited to view photographs of the remains, taken by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) at the scene. Investigators confirmed that the human remains had been in the abandoned oilfield for ‘several months’.
Emmanuel told the Express back then that two details stood out — a pleated skirt found near the remains, and the location, where his child is known to have associated with a man.
That was seven years ago.
Emmanuel had hoped that forensic examinations would conclude that the remains belonged to his missing daughter, bringing closure to the family. But there were setbacks, he said, as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing taken to confirm the identity of the body remain outstanding, years later.
The Express reached out to senior homicide officers who noted that the result of the first DNA test, conducted from samples taken from Emmanuel, was inconclusive. No documentation was provided to confirm this report.
Samples were taken from Sharday’s mother, Marilyn Emmanuel, but the result of that test remains pending.
In an interview with the Express last week, Emmanuel said: “Well, I know that the pictures I saw of burnt remains found about a year after Sharday’s disappearance is hers because of a piece of fabric still on the remains.”
Emmanuel is now turning to Minister of Homeland Security, Rodger Alexander, for help.
“After two DNA tests, one inconclusive and one we never got the official results of I’m hopeful that the Homeland Security Minister can get involved and see for himself how the burnt remains fabric and the picture we have of Sharday wearing the same material and pattern matches…and send those remains to get tested again,” he said.
Police said a man known to Sharday was questioned and released. The outcome, Emmanuel believes, would have been different had officers pursued the forensic examinations.
“The authorities know exactly who is responsible for her disappearance but because of the inconclusive DNA result she is still considered a missing person and the demon responsible walks among us,” he said.
‘Our lives were
never the same’
Since Sharday’s disappearance, Emmanuel said his family was never the same.
“Life for my wife and myself has never been the same…not a day goes by without us calling Sharday’s name and remembering the 20 years we had her for,” he said.
But her brother, Cassiel Emmanuel, doesn’t speak about his missing sister.
“Her brother never talks about her and though it hurts us we know it’s his own way of dealing with her not being around,” he explained.
Sharday would never know she became an aunt, he said. Her brother welcomed three children and is expected to marry soon.
“Sharday never got to meet her brother’s children but by pictures they can identify Aunty Sharday. We try our best to smile through the pain we feel every single day but inside is an emptiness that never goes away,” her father said.
In January 2024, Emmanuel attended a United National Congress (UNC) anti-crime symposium where he shared the tragic story of his missing daughter.
The father held a placard with a photograph of his daughter and spoke about the pain his family had endured since Sharday’s disappearance and the “inexcusable police incompetence” in the investigation.
He said he knew his daughter was not alive but he has not been able to convince the TTPS to conduct a detailed investigation into the case and begged the authorities for help.
The Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led UNC went on to win the general election in 2025 but Emmanuel has not yet been contacted. He is now appealing for a meeting with Alexander to discuss his concerns.
What happened
On June 27, 2018, Sharday walked out of her Mamoral home, down the street and into a taxi headed to Chaguanas. She was picked up on surveillance camera footage in a mall in Chaguanas that morning eight years ago. Then she vanished.
Her parents knew she had not run away from home and mounted a desperate search.
Her boyfriend told her family that he was supposed to meet her that morning, but did not arrive at the meeting place on time and began calling her cellphone. She did not answer.
He then called Sharday’s parents who knew immediately that something was wrong.
“Sharday would not stay away from her mother. They were extremely close and Sharday loved her family,” her father had said.
And the search for their missing daughter turned into a quest for answers.
“Why would someone harm Sharday? What did they do to her?”
For months, the Emmanuels reached out to Sharday’s friends seeking answers. But these questions, Junior Emmanuel said, opened up a Pandora’s box that upended their world.
Emmanuel found out that his only daughter had been in an abusive relationship, and she was ready to “put her foot down”. Sharday’s best friend released a series of voice notes she had sent before she vanished.
Sharday spoke about an abusive relationship and how badly she wanted to escape, but she was concerned about how she would be viewed by others if they knew what she was truly going through.
In the messages, Sharday said she wanted to tell her father about her “secret life”, and she was fearful that her life was in danger.
This broke her father’s heart and he said he “now more than ever” wanted to find the person who took his little girl away.
The Express sent a WhatsApp message to National Security Minister Roger Alexander on Tuesday, detailing Emmanuel’s concerns and asking whether he was willing to meet him on the matter. There was no response.
