Missing 6-year-old chopped to neck with cutlass – Police

…head, portions of left hand, right foot missing from body recovered in canal

…as father confesses to murder

Police investigating the disappearance of six-year-old Orlando Jaikarran have revealed that preliminary investigations suggest the child was taken to the Waterloo Main Canal, West Coast Berbice (WCB), where he was allegedly chopped to the neck with a cutlass. The disclosure came on Tuesday, hours after a partially decomposed body, of the missing child, was recovered from the canal near the sea dam.

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) has confirmed that it is investigating the murder of Orlando, who lived at Bath Settlement, WCB, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice).
The child’s father and another man have been arrested and are in police custody, assisting with the investigation. In a statement issued on Tuesday, police also disclosed that an examination of the recovered body revealed that the head was missing, along with portions of the left hand and right foot.
The remains were transported to the Bath Regional Hospital, where a doctor examined them. They were subsequently taken to Bailey’s Funeral Home, where formal identification and a post-mortem examination (PME) are pending. Orlando’s disappearance was reported to police on October 15.

Main suspect
On Tuesday, Divisional Commander Senior Superintendent Lonsdale Withrite identified the child’s father as the main suspect, following information obtained by investigators and the examination of additional surveillance footage.
Speaking to reporters at the scene where the body was discovered, Withrite explained that investigators had received information on Monday evening that prompted a search of the canal near the sea dam. “Based on some information that came to light last evening, we conducted a search of the canal that runs next to the sea dam,” the commander explained.
He said the search began at approximately 20:45h on Monday and continued into the early hours of Tuesday. The commander said the discovery followed further investigative work, including the examination of additional CCTV footage and information gathered from the child’s father.

“We had some additional footage, so we were able to gather some information from the main suspect in this matter, which is the child’s father,” he stated.
Investigators had earlier obtained surveillance footage showing the father with the child in another section of Bath Settlement shortly after midnight. Additional footage subsequently obtained showed the father travelling on a motorcycle towards the canal with what appeared to be his six-year-old son. He was later seen returning on the motorcycle without the child.
The footage provided investigators with further information about the father’s movements during the period surrounding Orlando’s disappearance.
However, when questioned earlier on Tuesday about whether the child had been alive or already dead when taken to the canal, Withrite said investigators had not yet made that determination.

“No, it is still in the early stages of the investigation, so I wouldn’t want to pronounce on that as yet,” the commander stated.
While police have since disclosed that preliminary investigations suggest the child was allegedly chopped to the neck with a cutlass at the canal, the precise circumstances surrounding the alleged attack and Orlando’s death remain under investigation.
Meanwhile, Orlando’s grandmother, 65-year-old Dhankumarie Gowkarran, also known as “Shanti”, had earlier spoken about the circumstances surrounding her grandson’s disappearance.
According to Gowkarran, the family had gone to bed on the Tuesday night preceding the child’s disappearance.
However, the father stated that when he checked the following morning, his six-year-old son was missing.
The matter was subsequently reported to the police, prompting a search for the child. During that earlier interview, Gowkarran said her son, who works in the sugar industry, had been caring for his children.
She explained that the children attended school and would sometimes visit her before returning home.

Widespread attention
Meanwhile, Withrite acknowledged the assistance provided by residents, schools and other members of the public following reports of Orlando’s disappearance.
The case had attracted widespread attention, with appeals for information about the missing child circulating throughout the community and on social media.
Residents also joined efforts to locate the six-year-old.
“The public and the members of the community have been very supportive and contributed by coming out and assisting, searching and so on, since this matter was reported,” Withrite said.
He noted that schools had also played a role in circulating information about the missing child.
“Even the schools and so on were posting that the child was missing, and that was useful in bringing us to this point that we are at the moment,” the commander added.
The commander had indicated earlier that investigators would seek to complete their work before moving towards legal proceedings.
“We have to complete this investigation and then look towards starting the legal process against the suspect,” Withrite said.