A SEARCH effort involving hunters and police officers yesterday has led to the discovery of a mutilated body in the wetlands of Icacos—the community where Indar Rampersad had been reported missing for the past seven days.
Police said the head was detached from the body, which was barebacked and barefoot, and the corpse was covered with cut grass.
The grim find was made during coordinated searches by members of the Hunters Search and Rescue Team led by Vallence Rambharat and police officers of the Air Support Unit, South Western Division Task Force and Cedros Police.
Police have since contacted the missing man’s relatives and are awaiting their assistance in formally identifying the body.
Investigators have not yet determined a motive surrounding Rampersad’s disappearance, and several aspects of the case remain unclear.
In a social media post recorded at 2.03 p.m., Rambharat said that the body was found during the search for Rampersad.
The Express contacted a relative of Rampersad last evening, who said that he was reported missing to the police on Monday evening after residents in their community had not seen him for about a week. The relative, who did not give his name, said Rampersad was the only person missing in the community. He resided alone in an abandoned house near the health centre in the district, was not married and did not have any children, said the relative.
“The villagers missed him. He is a hustler, picking coconut. People not seeing him selling, so people start to ask for him. People buy the coconut to sell oil, so they ask for him,” he said.
The relative did not know if Rampersad had any threats on his life. Of the body that was found, the relative said it was discovered in a swamp.
“The pants looked like his—a long, black pants and a black belt. Bare feet, bareback. Somebody kill (the person) because they say the body cover down with grass,” he said.
The relative said that Rampersad has no tattoos. “He don’t have any birth paper. He has a finger missing from a boat accident when one of his finger squeezed on a boat and it cut off,” he added.
Detectives of the Homicide Bureau of Investigations of Region Three are continuing investigations.
