A farmer’s keen sense of smell yesterday led police to a body believed to be one of the female members of the missing family from Brasso Seco, Paria, for whom they have been searching the forest for the past two weeks. Police believe the body is that of either Irma Rampersad, 49, or one of her daughters, Felicia, 17, or Jenelle Gonzales, 19. The farmer was part of the 52-member team that had been searching unsuccessfully for several hours yesterday when, around 3.15 pm, he said he was getting a foul smell from some bushes nearby.
Members of the Homicide Bureau and the Crime Scene Unit then searched the area and found the half-naked, decomposing body hours later. It was found near a tree in a grey top and red underwear. The right foot was missing but police believe wild animals may have eaten it. The police brought the body, which was found several miles from where two other bodies were found on Saturday, out the forest around 6.40 pm.
In a release yesterday, the police confirmed Felix Martinez, 52, had also been positively identified as the man they found in the forest on Saturday. His identity was confirmed after an autopsy revealed he was strangled to death. Martinez, 52, was found with the body of a child, believed to be 14-month-old Shania Amoroso, in a forested area of the Paria Valley. They were found wrapped in a sleeping blanket four miles into the forest. The child’s skull was severely bashed in.
However, the autopsy on the infant was inconclusive due to the advanced state of decomposition and a further forensic examination is required. Martinez was said to be a close friend of the family and it was he who reported the family missing a day after they disappeared. He told police he was asleep in their house the day they went missing and awoke to find a kitchen window broken and the women and child missing. A few days later he too went missing but was believed to have been hunting.
Speaking with the media yesterday, Martinez's brother, John, said his brother was a kind man who used to help out all the villagers. Other villagers said Martinez never went to school and used to stay at the home of everyone in the village, including the missing family. Villagers said they were about to call off the search when they got the scent. Following the discovery, about a quarter-mile into the forest, off Mt Bleu Road, Paria, villagers who were part of the search team said the family was at least getting some closure. Residents described the killer/s as a monster/s who is/are robbing the family of closure by ensuring they don't find the bodies of all their relatives at once. But relatives, who spoke briefly with the T&T Guardian, said they were not surprised by the discoveries as they believed it was a way of torturing the family. They questioned the number of times they would have to receive a phone call telling them of the discovery of a decomposing relative. The perpetrator/s of the crime, they added, was/were robbing the entire family of comfort, closure and peace.
Search continues
A search team, comprising members of the Police Service, Defence Force, Forestry Division and eight villagers, has been searching the Brasso Seco forest since the family was reported missing on October 28. They will return to the forest today. So far, five people, including three relatives of the missing family, have been arrested. Police also have issued and all points alert for the whereabouts of Azmon Alexander, who is deemed “a person of interest” in the case. Members of the public are asked to call the hotline number 708-9956 if they have information which can assist the police.