Five arrested for teen’s body found in cemetery

By Leroy Smith

A massive investigation has commenced in ‘C’ Division to determine what or who could be responsible for the death of a young lady whose remains were found in a cemetery this morning at Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara.

The woman has been identified as 18-year-old Raynelle Benfield, an employee of Qualfon Call Center, and who was stationed at the Goedverwagting location. She resided at Plaintain Walk, Beterverwagting.

The police have since arrested five persons for questioning and based on information News Room received, their alibis are being verified. The News Room was told by a close associate of the woman that she left home for work on Saturday, after which she left and joined a minibus to go home; however, she never reached her destination.

It is unclear if the minibus is the one that is normally provided by the company to take staff home at night or if she used public transportation. At the scene today, the police checked the remains for marks of violence. It was observed that the teenager’s face was badly disfigured and appeared to have been partly smashed in.

News Room understands that Benfield’s relatives did not view Benfield’s absence from home as anything alarming; they were under the impression that she was working overtime.

When News Room visited the home of the deceased, there was no one there to speak with us as they were at the police station. Over at the police station, the police blocked relatives from engaging the media.

Persons in the community indicated that the young lady started working at Qualfon recently after leaving school. She was expected to celebrate her birthday next week.

Persons at the scene said they noticed the gate to the cemetery opened for some time now when it is usually locked. They expressed alarm at the discovery since according to them, the cemetery is only opened when burials are being done at the location or if it is being cleaned.

The stretch of the road which runs parallel to the cemetery has been under construction for some time now and was only recently reopened.