Four months after the disappearance of her 85-year-old father, Elaine Domingo has lost hope.
“I know deep down inside that my father is no longer alive and all we want is justice for him,” Domingo told Stabroek News during a recent interview.
Her father, Eustace Marcellino, of Mabaruma, was reported missing on April 3, 2017, leaving behind numerous unanswered questions, including about the role that a family member might have played in the elderly man’s disappearance.
Domingo had told Stabroek News that she had received a call from her sister, Shaun, informing her that the man had been missing for three days. She further noted that Shaun, who lived with their father, claimed that on the day their father went missing, he went into the backdam. However, Domingo noted that although her father went into the backdam in times past, he no longer did so since he was “up in age” and preferred to remain at home.
She had also stated that after her sister told her that their father was missing, she immediately asked if she told the police and Shaun stated yes. The woman noted, however, that when she called the police from her Georgetown home to find out about her father and the report her sister allegedly made, she was told that a report was never made by Shaun but by their village’s Toshao
Since then, Domingo has been mourning the loss of her father, while her family continues to be torn apart by what she claims is evidence that would implicate her sister as having played a role in their father’s disappearance or having knowledge of what transpired. “…What we would like is for the police to question my sister again so that she could tell us where our father is… we want justice for my father,” Domingo said, while adding that her sister has been hostile to the family.
In addition to her sister’s hostile behaviour, the woman explained that after searching for four days and coming up empty handed along with what she said was the lack of interest shown by police at the Mabaruma Police Station, the family’s hope of finding the elderly man alive started to dwindle.
“When my father went missing, she claimed that he went in the bush to go cut wood but I don’t believe that because he was already very old. And if me, who younger than him, fall down them hill couple times when we were searching for him, how would he have managed it? He couldn’t. He really wouldn’t have made it; somewhere along the line she is lying but the police not doing anything about it,” Domingo lamented.
“We just want a proper investigation into the matter so we could get some closure but them at Mabaruma are not doing any investigations; I remember asking them about the bloody sheets and pillow cases we found only for the officer to tell me he’s not a doctor to say whether the blood on the things were my father’s,” she added.
Meanwhile, ‘F’ Division Commander Senior Superintendent Ravindradat Budhram, in an invited comment, noted that investigations into the matter are continuing.
He also asked that anyone with any information about the disappearance of Eustace Marcellino come forward.
