Family of missing Siparia woman: Speed up autopsy

RELATIVES of Jaime Mohammed are calling on the authorities to expedite an autopsy, after they said the Forensic Science Complex demanded a DNA test to confirm the identity of a badly decomposed body discovered in Siparia last week.

They believe the body is hers.

A 20-year-old hunter and a 15-year-old school student discovered the decomposing, headless female body on November 14 in Murray Trace, Siparia. The skull was found next to it. The body was dressed in a leopard-print top, a red shorts and one pink sneaker. The top was pulled above the chest and the shorts to the knees.

Personal items including a keychain and purse were found nearby. These, relatives said, were enough to convince them this was Mohammed, who was reported missing around October 18.

However, Mohammed's sister-in-law Evelyn Chatoo told Newsday the team at the Forensic Science Complex, St James told the family on November 18 that this was not enough and that Mohammed's mother, Lollyta Maharaj, needed to provide a sample for DNA confirmation.

"We have been to Forensics yesterday (November 19) and also today (November 20)...and they told us they would contact us. The body is down there.

"They (the team) is telling them (relatives) they cannot identify the body, even though they can identify the sneakers but they...said we need more than that. So they want a DNA test."

She said the team had also informed them they no longer needed Mohammed's mother to do the swab, and that any sibling would suffice.

She said the family was also told they would be contacted when to come to move the process forward.

"They said they would call us whenever."

She said the family now fears that going through DNA testing would be too lengthy a process and would prevent them from getting the closure they need.

"First we couldn't find the body. Now we found the body (and) we can't bury the body.

"I don't understand it. It really is heartbreaking, because we need closure. We can't even find justice with what's taking place with them right now."

Chatoo said the burial plot and church are already on standby for when the body is released to hold the funeral.

"We just want to bring her home and bury here."

Mohammed, 46, was last seen alive by her common-law husband of two years, Roopnarine Maharaj, 70, between 4 pm and 5 pm on October 18, when he dropped her at a bar in High Street, Siparia, to have drinks with friends.

He could not think of a reason why someone would do this to Mohammed, but speculated that she may have tried to get a ride home and jumped into the wrong vehicle.