Relatives want to send murdered V'zuelan's ashes home

The relatives of Venezuelan murder victim Johanna Diaz Sanchez hope to be able to cremate her body and return her remains to Venezuela.

On Monday morning, a cousin of Sanchez was at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, for her autopsy.

"Our family is shocked by the gruesome murder of my cousin," he told Newsday.

He said Sanchez's body was identified by a scar on one arm from a fracture she suffered a few years ago and by a chain she was wearing.

"Joanna and her daughter had a similar chain," he said, in tears.

After receiving the results of the autopsy, Sanchez's family awaited the handover of the body to begin arrangements for the cremation.

A Catholic church in south Trinidad is helping her relatives with funeral expenses.

Her cousin said, "We are grateful to those who have given their love for Joanna and now for her daughter."

He and other relatives in TT are waiting for more help to fulfil the wishes of Yuraima Sanchez, Johanna's, to receive her remains in Tucupita, Venezuela.

"It is a very great pain to go through all this and being in another country is much more difficult," he said.

He also demanded justice for the murder of his cousin.

Sanchez had been missing since August 27. Relatives made a report last Monday at the police station in Princes Town, where she lived with her 14-year-old daughter.

On September 5, Sanchez's ex-boyfriend confessed to the police that he had killed her and buried her in a cesspit at his home in Preysal.

Her cousin said, “The authorities in TT must be inflexible, Women are human beings and a case like this must set a precedent. The murderer of my cousin must be punished by justice.”

He asked for protection for his relatives.