2 confess to sodomising, dumping body of 13-year-old in river

By Jarryl Bryan

The Guyana Police Force has made a startling breakthrough in the case of the missing 13-year-old East Bank Berbice (EBB) teenager, with the prime suspects confessing to abducting, sodomising and then dumping the lad’s body in the Berbice River.
Leonard Archibald, who attends Overwinning Secondary School, has been missing since last Sunday night. After a missing report was made, two men, who villagers claim are known paedophiles, were arrested.
However, things have taken a horrific turn, as acting Crime Chief, Assistant Police Commissioner Paul Williams confirmed to Guyana Times on Friday that the suspects have confessed to committing the heinous acts.

“They confessed,” the acting Crime Chief stated. “(And) we found the bicycle in the area that they (suspects) pointed out. We’re still looking for the body.”
According to Williams, the area in question is situated behind one of the suspect’s house. He noted that the bottom of the river was dredged earlier in the afternoon.
“That’s how we picked up the bicycle,” Williams related. “So as night rolls in, we’ll start back in the morning.”
Reports are that the missing boy, who hails from Brothers Village, was last seen riding a bicycle along the main access road on the East Bank of Berbice, wearing only a pair of trousers and slippers.
Archibald reportedly rode ahead of his three sisters that he was accompanying home from a birthday function on the EBB. He has not been seen or heard from since.
Following the disappearance of the teenager, Police questioned several persons, but detained the two. The two persons were taken into custody after a missing child’s report was filed at the Sisters Village Police Station.
Shortly after Archibald went missing, a pair of slippers was discovered at a remote site in the village. Villagers had linked the slippers to the prime suspect. One of the suspects is a man who villagers say has a history of sexually molesting young boys.
The main suspect, whose name was only given as “Edwards”, is allegedly known in the village as a child molester.
Villagers had reported that the suspect would tie up young boys and molest them. They claim that recently, he broke a boy’s jaw. Reports are that on Thursday that a pair of slippers was found at the site where a boy was tied to a tree, but he subsequently escaped when the suspect moved away.
The search continues for the missing boy.