A 70-year-old man from Groete River on the Essequibo River has been murdered and his shotgun, boat and engine taken.
The body of Osmond Fiedtkou was found yesterday morning by police and a community search party about two miles from his Groete River residence (15 miles below Bartica) .
His daughter, Judy Rodney last heard from him last Tuesday and had been trying since Wednesday to make contact but this was futile. On Friday, she frantically began calling up neighbours of the man asking if they had seen him but they too stated they had not.
Fiedtkou’s niece Jackie told Stabroek News that the neighbours told his family that they had heard what appeared to be screams and a gunshot on Wednesday but did not investigate. It was only after the man’s daughter had called and asked to check on him they realized he was missing and a search for him ensued.
His nephews searched all day Saturday and later that evening travelled to the Bartica Police Station and reported the man missing.
A team from the Bartica Station was dispatched to the area and found Fiedtkou’s body some two miles from his home.
His relative said that it appeared that he had been killed and dumped at the desolate location as his body bore what appears to be a gunshot wound.
Fiedtkou once hunted and fished for a living but had retired and only used his skills for subsistence. The Groete River area he lived serves as the entrance to the Blue Mountain mining area. He was well known by the miners who traversed the area as he had been living there since childhood.
He is survived by two children: his daughter Judy and a son.
