Eight months later, Akeem Bissoon’s mother not convinced body found is missing teen
Eight Months after 16-year-old Akeem Bissoon went missing during a visit to Region Seven (Cayuni-Mazaruni), the teen’s mother Jennifer Henry does not believe a body subsequently found is her son.
A DNA sample taken from a body found in the area in October 2022 was sent to be identified.
Henry, during an interview with the News Room on Wednesday, said the police are working on identifying the body but believes it is a 50/50 chance that her son is alive.
Recounting the day she was contacted by the police about the discovery, Henry said, “I was a bit shocked because they said it is like a possibility it could be him because that’s the location where he went missing and fitting the clothes that he was wearing at the time.”
But she said after going to identify the body which was badly decomposed, she could not confirm it was Akeem’s.
Because of the uncertainty, a DNA sample was taken and approximately one month after she was told that the sample was destroyed and another sample had to be taken.
Henry said that the first sample was to be sent to Miami for testing. The current pending sample is going to be tested here.
“I would really like the DNA results to come out as early as possible so I could know whether it’s my son or not because it’s not easy to be waiting and you don’t know whether he is dead or alive. If it’s not him there’s still hope that he is somewhere,” the teen’s mother said.
Akeem went missing in June 2022 after he went on a work trip with his uncle, Andrew Harlequin. The teen never returned but his uncle told police that they stopped at the location, an abandoned airstrip, because the vehicle they were traveling in had an issue.
The teen lived with his aunt and her husband, Andrew Harlequin. On June 08, Bissoon and Harlequin started their journey to the uncle’s workplace. But due to mechanical issues with their vehicle, they stopped at an airstrip in Region Seven.
Then on June 14, according to claims by the uncle, the teen disappeared at around 17:00 hrs.
Henry said it wasn’t until days after the teen was missing that the relative contacted other family members who later told her that her son was gone.
Initially, Harlequin told Henry that he was cooking fish and when he turned around he didn’t see the teen. However, he told the police they both were at the waterside but Harlequin left to take the fish back to their camp. When he returned the teen was missing, he claimed.
Harlequin was held by the Police for questioning but was later released.