As the police probe into the gruesome murders of teenaged cousins Isaiah and Joel Henry continues, four of the seven persons who were initially detained for questioning were yesterday released on station bail and a number of new arrests were made over the past 24 hours.
This is according to Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum, who told Stabroek News yesterday afternoon that the four individuals were released on station bail after their maximum 72-hour detention period expired.
Blanhum said the quartet are required to report to the police today as the probe continues.
A number of other individuals, including three of whom were initially arrested in relation to the crime remain in police custody, Blanhum added.
Among those still in custody is a coconut estate owner, who was one of the first suspects to be arrested. The police were on Wednesday granted additional time to keep him in custody after his 72-hour period had also expired.
The police on Sunday said that the bodies of Isaiah Henry and Joel Henry were found about 600 feet from each other in clumps of bush near to a coconut farm.
Isaiah, 16, a student at the Woodley Park Secondary School, and Joel, 18, attached to the Blairmont Estate, went missing last Saturday after they left home to head to the backlands to pick coconuts.
After they did not return home, relatives lodged missing person reports with the police and subsequently launched a search party. It was while searching that the bodies of the teens were discovered.
Autopsies performed on the bodies of the teenagers on Wednesday showed that they both died from haemorrhage and shock due to multiple wounds.
In the interest of transparency, the autopsies were video recorded by the police and measures were also put in place for the dead teens’ lawyers to witness the process.
Meanwhile, in a press statement issued last evening the police said that Acting Army Chief of Staff, Brigadier Godfrey Bess and Commissioner of Police (ag) Nigel Hoppie visited the West Berbice area where they met with the relatives of the murdered teens.
During the visit, the police said that the heads also had a firsthand experience of activities on the ground and assessed the welfare of the ranks
Based on the assessment of the operations, the police noted that resources were deployed to the West Berbice area in the maintenance of law and order and to facilitate the “unhindered” flow of traffic in the area.
The police further stated that ranks from the Joint Services were successful in clearing the roads along the West Coast Berbice and East Coast of Demerara which were blocked over the last few days.
