http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/THI ... 64841.htmless than three days after the bodies of an adult man and baby were found off the Paria Main Road in Brasso Seco, the decomposing body of what is suspected to be that of a woman has been found.
Police said at about 3.15 p.m. yesterday, a farmer from the Brasso Seco Paria district alerted police officers involved in the search for the missing Brasso Seco family members of a stench emanating from some bushes.
Officers from the Homicide Bureau and the Crime Scene Unit visited the scene where they came upon a decomposing body believed to be that of a female.
A combined search team involving several arms of the Police Service, Defence Force and the Forestry Division has been combing the forested areas of Brasso Seco, in search of the four members of the Brasso Seco family reported missing on October 26, 2014, to the Arima Police Station.
Still missing are 49-year-old Irma Rampersad and her daughters Felicia Gonzales, 17, and Jenelle Gonzales, 19.
The Police Service has issued an all-points alert for the whereabouts of Azmon Alexander, alias “Pappi” and “Apalon”, deemed “a person of interest” and a known fugitive in the case.
Members of the public are being asked to assist the Police Service in the safe return of the remaining family members by calling the hotline number 708-9956.
Man was strangled
The male adult who was found wrapped in a blanket with a baby on Saturday, off a precipice along the Paria Main Road, died as a result of asphyxiation.
This was revealed yesterday by senior sources at the Homicide Bureau of Investigations, who said autopsies on the bodies of the adult and the baby were completed
at the Forensic Science Centre in Federation Park by pathologist Dr Eastlyn McDonald-Burris.
Based on the results of the post-mortem on the adult, the man was strangled, most probably with the bandanna which was found around his neck, police said. The results were undetermined for the body of the young child who was found.
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) samples were also secured from both bodies and are expected to be sent for testing to confirm their identities.
Relatives of the missing family of four in Brasso Seco firmly believe the bodies of the man and baby are those of 51-year-old Felix Martinez and one-year-old Shania Amoroso.
They came to this conclusion after viewing both bodies at the centre on Monday.
While the advanced stage of decomposition prevented the family recognising either of the two from facial features alone, the articles of clothing which both bodies bore were recognisable by the relatives who viewed the bodies.
Yesterday marked 14 days since the family and friend Felix Martinez, 51, were reported missing.
Relatives did not return to the centre yesterday, however, when contacted earlier before police found a third body, Rampersad’s daughter Gail Harford said they were still holding out hope for the three missing women.
“We haven’t been in contact with police today, but we are holding out hope here. We are prepared for the worst, but we are holding out still.
“And I must commend the police and the soldiers. They are working hard; day and night, they are out there. Take, for instance, we know for a fact that two different parties went out this morning and still out there. So we are grateful for that,” Harford explained.
