Forest search for missing woman: BLOODY HANDBAG FOUND

THE search for missing casino worker Kezia Jeneca Guerra will continue on the Divali public holiday Thursday, even as a search on Wednesday by police in the forests in Acono, Maracas, St Joseph, led to the discovery of her bloodstained handbag.

Members of the Hunters Association are expected to join in the search for Guerra who was last seen on Saturday.

Police said the brown bag was found near a river in the forests at about 10.30 am on Wednesday. Her identification documents, cash and cellphone charger were in the bag but her iPhone 8 phone is missing.

The last message relatives said they received from Guerra’s phone was at 1.25 am on Sunday. Calls to her phone have gone straight to voicemail.

A close male relative, who asked not to be named, told Newsday on Wednesday that Guerra left her Moraldo Trace, Sam Boucaud, Santa Cruz home on Saturday to meet with a teenaged girl. Guerra, 27, said she was taking the teen to the mall.

The father of the teenager was found dead at 5.30 pm on Sunday, with police saying it was suspected that he died by suicide.

Police said the 36-year-old Curepe man was detained on Saturday night after he and two Venezuelan men were found in Acono Road. The man claimed his car had shut down and the three were detained after police said they were acting suspiciously.

The three were released on Sunday after checks came back negative for criminal affiliations or records. Later that day, he was found dead at his home. Police are now searching for the two Venezuelan men.

In a brief exchange with a relative on Sunday, Guerra messaged: “Yes, I am happy,” when asked how she was doing. Police said they searched the Curepe home of the deceased man but there were no signs Guerra had been there.

Guerra’s relative told Newsday that the Curepe man recently told Guerra that he was dying and that he wanted her to care for his daughter after he passed and he was in the process of ensuring all the necessary paperwork was in place to facilitate this.

The relative told Newsday that he went hunting on Saturday and returned home Sunday night only to find Guerra was not there. He began calling relatives only to be told that she was not at their home either.

He messaged Guerra’s phone at 11. 38 pm on Monday telling her he missed her and hoped everything was ok, but did not receive a reply.

On Tuesday, social media reports began circulating that Guerra’s body was found in Maracas, St Joseph and that she had been chopped to death.

The man said this false information did not help the family who have not been eating or sleeping well since she disappeared.

“Jeneka is a very loving person. She loves children real bad, that is her weakness. She is not a person to fuss and fight, she will go out of her way for children. Right now, my four-year-old every morning asking me when is aunty coming back home. She treated my daughter as if she was her mother.”

Police said the search for Guerra involved the Air Guard and from Thursday will be expanded to include members of the regiment and hunters.

The search for Guerra is reminiscent of efforts to find two other women who went missing – Andrea Bharatt, 22, and 18-year-old Ashanti Riley.

Bharatt, a clerk at the Arima Magistrates' Court was kidnapped after entering a car she believed to be a taxi to go home after work on January 29. After a six-day search, her decomposing body was found off a precipice in the Heights of Aripo on February 4.

Riley’s decomposing body was found months earlier. She left her Santa Cruz home on November 29. The teen took a taxi to San Juan and her body was found on December 4.

Luciano Quash, a 32-year-old taxi driver was charged with murdering Riley while 24-year-old Negus George was charged with murdering Bharatt.

In both cases there was an outpouring of anger over attacks against women which led to several marches and candlelight vigils throughout the country.

In both cases, villagers and the members of the Defence Force assisted police in searching forested areas for the women. In both cases, hopes of finding them alive dwindled as each day passed.

Guerra’s relative said: “Right now I am hoping for the best. I want to keep my hopes high that she is living. We all know it is what it is, but I am not saying that until they find her body.” Efforts to interview other relatives of Guerra on Wednesday all proved futile.