Sixteen days after the body of Reonol Williams went missing from an accident scene, the driver of the motor car that struck him yesterday took investigators to the area where he dumped the man’s body.
In a story that has gripped the public’s attention, the decomposed body of Williams was found in a trench in the vicinity of the Coldingen Koker, East Coast Demerara (ECD). The body was found some distance away from the thoroughfare and could not have been easily spotted from the road by passersby.
Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum last night told Stabroek News that the driver, Daniel Melbourne, 53, a musician, of Lot 53 Middle Street, Ann’s Grove, ECD, while in custody admitted to the crime and detailed the events that transpired during the wee hours of May 23.
Reonol called ‘Ram’ was struck down by a motor car at Enmore Estate Road, ECD. At the time, Williams was returning home after dropping off his younger sister in George-town. He was accompanied by a friend, Davis Peters, who witnessed the accident.
Blanhum said Melbourne told investigators that after he struck down Williams, he placed him in his vehicle with the intention of taking him to the hospital. However, as he was driving, he observed him motionless and as a result he stopped his vehicle at a bridge in Coldingen along the railway embankment and disposed of the body in the trench.
Subsequently, he abandoned his vehicle which bore registration number PAB 2552 and took a taxi home. Upon arriving home, he told his mother that his vehicle was missing and she should inform the police.
He also told police that he acted alone.
Days after the accident, the car was found in Haslington, East Coast Demerara, with visible spots of blood and no number plates. A photograph taken by an eyewitness at the accident scene allowed traffic ranks to track down the driver.
Although Melbourne was picked out during an identification parade by an eyewitness, he was released on bail during the initial stages of the investigation.
Melbourne had claimed that he was not around at the time of the accident and his car had been stolen by a cousin.
He was rearrested yesterday morning and during interrogation told investigators from the Major Crimes Unit that the initial information he provided to the police about him being in the interior was false and he was the driver of the vehicle at the time of the accident.
For days, Williams’s family has been calling on the police to deepen their investigation but their pleas fell on deaf ears. At a meeting on Monday with acting Top Cop Clifton Hicken, a commitment was given for a thorough investigation. Hicken at the meeting had told Williams’s sister, Sylvie Williams, that the crime chief was going to establish contact within 48 hours.
She was contacted yesterday morning and up to press time was assisting police with their investigations.
The discovery of Williams’s body, which is said to be in an advanced state of decomposition, was made just after noon yesterday and DNA samples were collected for testing.
His sister nonetheless managed to identify him based on the clothing he was last wearing – a pair of blue jeans and a shirt.
Since the morning of the accident the family has been searching for him. His niece, Lourna Simon, at the scene yesterday told reporters that the family has been searching around the clock for his body.
“In the dam, on the sea walls, in the trenches, many sleepless nights we had searching for his body. It was not easy for us…” she said noting that they are relieved to have found the body since they will be able to lay her uncle to rest.
In a previous report, Sylvie had said “I had sent my brother to drop off my smaller sibling… It was raining that night so he could not have come back on time. He waited until the rain stop falling. Rain continued pouring, so he waited and waited until he no longer wanted to wait. So he took a car to the East Coast Park, waited for a bus but there was no bus for them to come home with so they hired another car to come to Enmore and that was what dropped them off.”
Shortly after, she said Peters went to her home and informed her that Reonol was involved in an accident and that he had died.
As a result, Sylvie said she rushed to the scene. However, by the time she arrived, she said Reonol’s body had already been removed. His belongings including his bag and footwear along with fragments of the car’s licence plate were seen on the road.
Sylvie said the eyewitness related to her that Reonol was picked up by the driver of the vehicle, who reportedly claimed he was taking him to seek medical attention.
“According to the eyewitness… all he could have said when we come out here [at the scene] was that the driver of the car that struck him down, put him into the back part of the car… All he could have heard was that they taking him to the hospital…to Melanie Hospital [health centre].”
“The eyewitness did not see what happen after then because he had to run over to my side [of the road] to inform me what had taken place,” she added.
Reonol’s family had not seen him since and numerous searches were futile. “After he was struck down, I started to look for him. Onto now I can’t find his body. I fear he is dead but where is his body? We don’t know,” Sylvie had said.
She said they checked all the city hospitals and mortuaries but there was no record of Reonol. “We checked all out and I didn’t find nothing.”
Yesterday, indigenous activist Michael McGarrell described the discovery of Williams as bittersweet. He stated that while the family and persons who have shown interest in the matter are relieved at the body being discovered and they are now able to give him a burial, he is disturbed at the lengths a person would go to hide from the law.
Blanhum, when asked whether the direction of the investigation has changed from that of a fatal accident, stated that the results of the autopsy will determine that.
“This is a cruel act to see human beings committing an act such as this, treating another human and disposing them like an animal is just cruel,” McGarrell observed.
He expressed disappointment at the Ministry of Amerindian People’s Affairs for their failure to pay any interest in the matter.
He stated that despite all the pleas and calls for assistance the ministry never reached out to the family to find out what was happening.
Reonol hails from Paramakatoi Village, Region Eight. He moved to Region Four some time ago to earn a living. He was described as a very jovial, helpful and hardworking individual.
