Local police are in contact with overseas agencies capable of conducting DNA testing so they could definitively pronounce on whether the corpse found on the highway last week is that of missing hotel owner Roselaine Hall.
Besides confirmation given by staff regarding the clothing found with the corpse wrapped in tarpaulin as those worn by Hall on the last day she was seen, only DNA testing could say for sure whether the remains are indeed Hall’s. It is not known if dental records are available.
Police in a statement last Thursday said that among the remains found a few miles from Yarrowkabra on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway were a black brassiere, a pair of multi-coloured underwear, a pair of black denim pants and a white blouse with ‘Solution S’ printed on it.
A high ranking police source told Stabroek News yesterday that the police are also still to address in their minds the cause of death of the female and whether the remains are Hall’s. A post-mortem examination conducted on the body yesterday was inconclusive.
This newspaper was told that the teeth still evident on the corpse were positively identified by witnesses to the post-mortem as those of Hall’s but no other match was made. The dead woman’s husband Romeo Rockerfeller told Stabroek News yesterday that he was awaiting word from the police regarding any updates on the situation.
The uncertainty as to whether the corpse is Hall’s has also curtailed the involvement of the United States embassy in Georgetown. An official told this newspaper yesterday that they remained uncertain of the identity of the corpse but assured that the embassy was in constant contact with local authorities as well as Hall’s mother in the US.
However the official said that once the embassy here is able to ascertain more information as regard the identity of the remains, and if it is indeed Hall’s, then the relevant assistance would be made available to the family.
Roselaine Hall went missing close to two months ago and was last seen in the company of her ex-husband Alex Barker, who was her chauffeur. Her current husband was reportedly out of the country when she disappeared.
Hall had apparently gone to her hair dresser and was supposed to have been going to visit a doctor because of difficulties she was having with her eyes.
The woman then left with Barker, who later returned to the hotel that night and advised staff that she had made him her power of attorney, giving him control of the business while she went to Suriname.
Barker, staff told this newspaper, had started making changes at the hotel, hiring new staff and firing others under the pretext of being Hall’s man-of-business while she was away.
When two days passed staff got worried after not seeing or hearing from Hall, who also lived at the hotel, and subsequently made a missing person’s report about her. Yesterday police confirmed that nothing has since been heard from Barker since the wanted bulletin was issued for his arrest.
