The mother of murdered Hog Island farmer, Romeo Randolph, 35, is calling for justice and a post-mortem yesterday showed that he had died from suffocation compounded by blunt trauma to the head.
Randolph’s bound body was found on Sunday morning floating in the Essequibo River. In a statement yesterday, the police said that the man’s hands and feet were bound with yellow rope and a 115 hp outboard engine was tied to his body. His head was covered with a black plastic bag which was duct taped. The engine was identified by his wife as belonging to Randolph.
The police say that a missing person report was filed with them on August 05, 2022 and the deceased’s swollen and decomposing body was found at about 8 am on August 07, 2022 floating in the river. It was discovered by a 48-year-old farmer.
According to the police, initial enquiries revealed that Randolph lived alone on the Essequibo River island but made visits to his reputed wife and children at Tuschen on the East Bank of Essequibo once weekly. His family last saw him in person on July 29, 2022 but spoke with him on the afternoon of August 04, 2022 via telephone.
Later that evening, Randolph’s wife received a call from her husband’s neighbour informing her that her husband’s boat was found floating in the river but he could not be found. She went to his home at Hog Island where she observed nothing amiss, and the boat and engine intact at the neighbour after being recovered from the river. She made checks for him in the area but he was not seen.
The police said that the body was taken to the Ezekiel Funeral Home for a post-mortem which was conducted yesterday by Doctor Nehaul Singh. The body was identified by the deceased’s wife in the presence of the police and the cause of death was given as suffocation compounded by blunt trauma to the head.
Several persons have been questioned and investigations are in progress.
Meanwhile, Holiwattie Randolph, the mother of the deceased, told Stabroek News that she received a call on Friday from her son inquiring how she was doing. The saddened mother said that he would usually check with her daily on how she was feeling.
“Every day he does check me out, he does check if we have groceries and if we are doing good, my son is loving and he never troubles anyone”, the mother related.
On Sunday morning the family received a call that his body had been found floating.
“When we went we saw a plastic bag over his face, his hands and feet tied, and when they pulled him up an engine was at the bottom like then anchoring down him” the mother related.
The mother said that her son was a farmer and he would do private speed boat operations whenever he received a hire. She said that she does not know if anyone hired her son and killed him but she is seeking justice for him. The mother said that he was the elder of two children for her.
She is calling on the police or anyone with information about her son to contact the family so that justice can be served.
