Headless body at Port Kaituma identified as young mother; Police looking for husband

The headless, decomposed body discovered in Port Kaituma, Region One, has been identified as 23-year-old Paulette Edwards, a young mother of one. Edwards was frequently abused by her reputed husband, a 29-year-old construction worker, and the police are now searching for him.

Edwards was identified by a scar on her right leg and the clothes she was wearing when last seen alive.

It is believed that she was brutally murdered between June 4 and 7, 2024. She was last seen alive on June 4, when she left to file a report at the Port Kaituma police station against her husband.

Edwards lived with her father in an area called ‘the Hole’ in Mathew’s Ridge but often visited her husband in Port Kaituma. Her partially nude body was discovered around 16:30 hrs in a swamp surrounded by bushes at “Cat Walk”, Port Kaituma. Due to the state of decomposition, Edwards was laid to rest. Her body is scheduled to be exhumed on Monday for an autopsy.

An investigation was launched, and the police visited a female relative of the husband. She stated that she last saw the husband on the morning of June 5, when he dropped off their one-year-old daughter. He told her he was heading to the backdam for work and would call her once he returned, but he never did.

In a telephone interview with the News Room on Monday, Edwards’ sister, Holly Jeffrey, expressed her devastation over her sister’s death, especially the manner in which her life was taken. Jeffrey received a call from the police last Friday informing her of the discovery.

Jeffrey last saw her sister on May 25 at the flag-raising ceremony for Guyana’s independence in Port Kaituma. That same day, Edwards was headed to the station to report her husband.

They had arranged to meet afterward, and Jeffrey met Edwards at the Chinese supermarket where she worked. They had a brief conversation before parting ways.

“I feel real bad…Me ain’t know how fah explain this feeling. I want they get to the root of it and I want know the truth about however she died and so,” Jeffrey told the News Room.