La Brea mother of six, 36, found dead at neighbour’s home

A 36-year-old woman from La Brea was found dead at the home of a friend early Thursday.

The deceased is Gayatree Balchan, the mother of six from Sobo Extension Trace.

Her body was found on a bed, a stone’s throw away from the family’s home, before dawn.

She lived with her boyfriend, Ricardo Ramlogan, 37, their three-year-old son, and her two adult brothers. Balchan’s other children live elsewhere with relatives.

Relatives said she was a “heavy drinker” and sometimes would spend nights at the nearby home of pensioner Balgobin Pooran, 68.

One of her brothers, Vinood Rajkumar, who lives in Fyzabad, said he did not get a chance to view her body as the police had already secured it when he arrived.

From what he was told there was a blue mark on her left hand. He said it was normal for her to spend nights out. She had not returned to the family’s home in four days.

“Her only problem was the drinking. We talked to her many times over the years, but she did not listen. She was our only sister. Now, it is just four brothers. We do not want to speculate about what happened. We will wait for the autopsy,” Rajkumar said.

He said he last saw her alive on October 28 when she visited him at his workplace.

Relatives were cleaning around the house when Newsday visited.

Balchan’s boyfriend said he last spoke to her on Tuesday night. He added that when he heard the news, he went to see the body, but the police were already there and did not see the body.

Balchan’s elderly friend/neighbour said he last spoke to her on Wednesday on the bed where her body was later found.

Pooran said she visited him often for “money, love, and respect.”

He recalled the last conversation he had with her.

She was under the influence but kept asking for a drink. She expressed her love, adding she was going to leave him.

“I did not take her on because she was drunk. I left her home and went out. When I came back in the night, I told her to go around, but she did not move or say anything,” the pensioner said.

At around 5 am, he realised she was dead.

La Brea police, as well as Homicide Bureau of Investigations, Region III, officers visited the scene.

An autopsy is expected to determine the cause of the death.

Investigations are ongoing.