Law enforcement officers searched the Blanchisseuse forest for several hours yesterday, but there was still no sign of a family of four from Paria who disappeared under mysterious circumstances over a week ago. Although the search for the missing mother, her two daughters and her one-year-old granddaughter was unsuccessful, investigators reportedly arrested four “persons of interest” from the remote North Coast village for questioning.
However, a senior police source warned that investigators could not hail the arrests as a breakthrough in the case, as the men were yet to be interrogated up to late yesterday. “We don’t want to talk too much about them as yet because we’re not sure what they know. They may be eventually released,” the source said. The source said during yesterday’s search several villagers told the search team that a 51-year-old man also went missing on the same day as the family.
“We cannot confirm as yet. We don’t have any official report of this. Today is the first time we heard about this,” the source said. According to reports, a team of police from the North Eastern Division Task Force (NEDTF) and soldiers from the T&T Defence Force were dispatched to search the vast and dense area early yesterday. The search was called off around 6 pm because of poor visibility and difficulty in navigating te terrain at night.
Despite being supported by a National Security helicopter, the search team, which comprised two dozen people and several police cadaver sniffer dogs, was unsuccessful in locating the family or any evidence related to their disappearance. The team is expected to embark on a fourth consecutive search mission today.
According to reports, Irma Rampersad, 48, her daughters Felicia Gonzales, 17, Jenelle Gonzales, 19, and Jenelle’s one-year-old daughter Shania Amoroso, were reported missing two Sundays ago. Rampersad’s husband Peter Sylvester and five other children were not home at the time.
Her brother-in-law John McDavid, who spent the night at the family’s Bleu Road, Brasso Seco, Paria, told police that when he woke up he found the front door open, a window broken and his relatives missing. Since the incident was reported by the media, investigators have received a reports from a man claiming he spotted one of the missing women in Sangre Grande on Friday. The information, one of the few lead in the case, is currently being investigated.
Speaking with the T&T Guardian on Friday, Rampersad’s daughter Nicole said she feared her relatives had been kidnapped as none of their clothes or other personal items were missing from the house. She also said her mother and sisters had been receiving death threats since their 31-year-old neighbour Phillip Noreiga was shot dead near their home in early August. Detective of the Blanchisseuse Police Station are continuing investigations.