FREEPORT – Calling it a major breakthrough, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ellison Greenslade, at a special media briefing Monday, indicated that police are making progress and urged the public to remain calm.
The police chief appealed to the public to allow the police to complete its investigations, noting that there is no need for speculation.
“We are very near, ladies and gentlemen, please allow us to complete our work,” he said.
Pressed about information circulating regarding a confession, he said, “We are more than willing to brief you as often as is necessary to ensure that you, members of the media, have the right information, it is factual information and it is timely information.”
Police refuse, however, to comment on the fate of four youngsters charged with the first boy’s disappearance.
A team of forensic scientists and detectives flew in from the capital Sunday, as did ACP Reginald Ferguson, who has overall responsibility for crime, and Police Press Liaison Officer Hulan Hanna, to assist local experts here.
Police were kept busy much of Sunday and well into the night, as a great deal of activity was concentrated in an isolated area at the eastern end of the island in the area known as Barbary Beach.
Word of a possible find prompted some residents to patrol the Barbary Beach area before several settled in the parking lot of the Rand Memorial Hospital, in an attempt to get a glimpse of a hearse or some police activity.
At the special media briefing at Police Headquarters yesterday, police authorities also refused to divulge anything about the suspect or how many skeletal remains were recovered.
Police would only say the breakthrough was as a result of public support and work performed by local and national detectives.
Jake Grant, 12, first went missing on May 9; Mackinson Colas, 12, a Haitian national, on May 16; and DeAngelo McKenzie, 13, on May 27. Junior Reme, 11, a Haitian national, was the fourth boy to disappear on July 29, and Desmond Rolle, 14, vanished exactly one month ago today.
Four of the boys are linked to the Winn Dixie downtown supermarket, having worked as part-time bag packers, and all of them frequented the Play 2 D Xtreme video game room downtown.
Police maintain they are distinct case files.
Investigations took an odd twist on October 10 when four young boys, between ages 11 and 13, were arraigned for Jake�s disappearance and charged with manslaughter.
Questioned about the status of the investigation now with another suspect taken into custody, Greenslade said, “As a professional law enforcement organization, with the best advice from the Attorney-General’s Office in this country, all decisions we have taken to date have been fair and correct decisions”
“We are not second-guessing ourselves on anything that we have done,” he added, “and we wish you again to please allow us to give you the information. It’s a totally separate matter that�s before the court that we’re not going to be able to elaborate on.”
Royal Bahamas Police Force forensic experts are playing a pivotal role in the investigation, as it now hinges primarily on the scientific and technical aspect with the recovery of skeletal remains, said ACP Ferguson.
“That is an area that requires all of the scientific help that we can get and that is why we had to bring in the extra support staff to assist us with this investigation,” he disclosed.
With the absence of a crime scene, Ferguson says detectives had very little to go on; however, persistent efforts of investigators slowly unravelled a path that has led to “this watershed moment.”
This, after many long man-hours, many people questioned, hundreds of statements were recorded and several locations visited to determine their link to the investigation.
How soon the public can expect an indictment will depend on the progress of the investigations, he said, pointing out that investigations are at a tedious process.
“I am convinced that we are very near to having these matters cleared up so as to allay the concerns of the families of these youngsters and the residents of Grand Bahama,” Ferguson said.
As for the boys� families, police say a victimology and family liaison team — including Police Force Chaplain Bishop Ricardo Grant, Kevin Mortimer, Woman Police Constable Stacey Simmons, and Woman Inspector Ismella Davis out of new Providence — are in contact with family members.
Davis is said to be fluent in Creole. Ferguson said the work of the men and women on the force has paid off handsomely.
“I am optimistic that our work has paid off and we are now clearly able to see the imminent closure of what can only be described as a complex, challenging, unique and dynamic series of events,” he said.
Ferguson also added that the wider Bahamian community could all breathe a collective sigh of relief as a result of the current status of the cases.
By Lededra Ferguson, The Nassau Guardian
