Several months after DNA samples were sent abroad to be tested to confirm if the remains are missing men Answar Stoll and Suraj Dhaneshwar, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) is still awaiting the results.
Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum on Tuesday confirmed that the DNA samples are still abroad and the results are expected to be returned to the force shortly.
He also said the DNA sample for Marc Melville was sent to the Guyana Forensic Science Laboratory for testing.
Skeletal remains suspected to be those of Stoll, 42, were found at the Kuru Kuru Backdam on the Soesdyke, Linden Highway in July, 2022. This was two years after the man disappeared in mid-November of 2020. The police treated the disappearance as a murder investigation but the man’s family continued the search for answers.
Then the Police in a statement said bones were found scattered in an area with a diameter of about 30 feet and showed evidence of being there for quite some time.
Meanwhile, Dhaneswar, 28, a fisherman went missing on March 16, 2022 after the fishing vessel he was in capsized. The man lived at Rosignol, West Coast Berbice.
A badly decomposed body that washed ashore at Dantzig, Mahaicony in April, 2022 is suspected to be that of Dhaneshwar, but only the DNA test can confirm. Samples were taken and sent to Trinidad and Tobago for testing.
Initially, relatives were told the waiting time would be approximately three weeks but it has been several months since.
The News Room was previously told by relatives that the Guyana Police Force buried the body and the family were reportedly not informed.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Kurleigh Simon who was the then Regional Commander later told the News Room that the body was buried in a shallow grave about seven to 10 days after it washed ashore. This was done in keeping with the Force’s policy, he explained.
In the case of Melville, the 47-year-old man went missing in August, 2022 but burnt human remains suspected to be him were discovered the following month at Yarrowkabra on the Soesdyke Linden Highway.
The News Room understands that a few young boys from the area made the discovery and reported it to their parents who later contacted the police. The remains were burnt beyond recognition and forensic investigators were called in.
Melville was a father of seven children and lived at Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara. His mother, Avira Melville, had told the News Room that she recognised the knife found near the remains, as her son’s and that the keys opened his bedroom door.
