Major Crimes Unit takes over Roma Dookeran murder probe

As the investigation into the murder of overseas-based Guyanese Roma Dookeran widens, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum has confirmed that a team from the Major Crimes Unit has taken over case.

The semi-nude body of Dookeran was discovered at around 08:00 hrs on the foreshore of the island of Leguan in the Essequibo River on March 17.

An autopsy later determined that the woman died from brain hemorrhage due to blunt trauma to the head and compression to the neck.

Dookeran, 68, was a retired manager and lived in Canada. She was reportedly in Guyana to transact business and reportedly stayed at Perth village on the Essequibo Coast.

Two Tuesdays ago, her nephew dropped her off at the airport, reportedly to board an American Airlines flight to New York and then presumably to board a flight from there to Canada.

At the airport, the CCTV footage shows her exiting a car driven by her nephew. However, instead of proceeding inside the airport to the departure lounge to check-in, she proceeded to the arrivals area and boarded an official airport taxi which took her to a hotel in the city.

Sources confirmed that Dookeran checked into the hotel on the night of March 14, 2023, and she checked out the following morning.

Where she went remains a mystery; her body washed ashore at Leguan two days later.