Cordell Farrington, 35, appeared in the Freeport court where he was charged with the murder of Jamaal Robinson, 22; Mackinson Colas, 11; Junior Reme, 11; DeAngelo McKenzie, 13; and Desmond Rolle, 14.
McKenzie went missing in May along with Colas and Jake Grant, 12. Reme vanished June 30. Rolle disappeared Sept. 28.
The boys had worked as bag-packers at the Winn Dixie Supermarket in Freeport and played video games nearby.
Piles of skeletal remains were found Sunday in the Barbary Beach area. The remains were found before Farrington was arrested.
“It’s a hard thing to deal with,” said Hercules Knowles, DeAngelo’s uncle. He added, “It ends the waiting. It’s something (now) you can put to rest.”
Four minors were charged earlier this month with manslaughter in connection with Grant’s disappearance. Grant allegedly drowned, according to the minors charged, but his body has not been found yet.
Family members said they knew Farrington as a friendly, hard worker who came to Freeport from Nassau about a year ago. He worked as a clerk at Kelly’s Freeport Ltd., near the Winn Dixie.
Christopher Lowe, a manager at the hardware store, said Farrington worked there for three months and passed all of his background checks, including employment and a criminal background check.
Farrington, who reportedly has three children of his own, disappeared from work last Thursday at noon.
“His disposition was always happy, cheery and never miserable,” Lowe said. “There was absolutely nothing to indicate anything like this, which is probably the most scary part of this.”
Police in the Bahamas were assisted by the FBI and British officers from Scotland Yard. A retired FBI profiler and a former Las Vegas homicide detective were also sent to help by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, based in Alexandria, Virginia.
There were 52 murders last year in the former British colony of 300,000 people, up 17 percent from 2001, police said.
Freeport is about 75 miles east of Palm Beach, Fla.
By Dominic Duncombe, Associated Press
