By Shuntel Glasgow
The headless body that was discovered by police in a state of decomposition in Catwalk, Port Kaituma was identified as 23-year-old Paulette Edwards of ‘The Hole’ Matthew’s Ridge, Region One. Police, who later found the head, are actively seeking Edwards’ fiancé, Silus (only name given).
This newspaper learned that Edwards, a mother of three and a sales representative at a Chinese supermarket, had apparently suffered physical abuse at the hands of the man with whom she had been in a relationship for about a year.
Holly Jeffrey, Edwards’ sister, told Stabroek News in an interview yesterday that Edwards resided with her father in an area called ‘The Hole’ in Matthew’s Ridge, but would usually travel to Port Kaituma with her one-year-old daughter to visit her fiancé, Silus. Some time in May, her father indicated, she left for Port Kaituma.
Jeffrey recounted that on May 25th she attended the flag-raising ceremony in Port Kaituma and saw Edwards in the vicinity. Jeffrey explained that she was excited to see her sister and proceeded to ask her how she was doing.
“When I see she, I ask how she doing and she said that she was going to the police station to make a report because Silus beat her up. She eye did swell up big and red marks went around the eye,” Jeffrey said.
Nevertheless, Jeffrey said, she proceeded to the flag-raising ceremony and promised to visit her sister at the Chinese supermarket before leaving Port Kaituma. Jeffrey said she did as promised and visited Edwards who explained what had transpired at the police station. Edwards was last seen by her sister on May 26th at the supermarket where she worked.
Relatives did not report that Edwards was missing because she had little to no communication with them during her stay in Port Kaituma. Edwards was also secretive about her personal life and relationship issues. Advances by her sisters to have her discuss what she would face at the hands of her fiancé proved futile as she would usually discontinue the conversation.
“Only the people around where she was staying with her child father can say if they miss she for a couple days,” Jeffrey said. “That one time she tell me that he beat she and before then when she come to visit and we ask she about her life and what he would do she would shun the conversation. She was always secretive…”
Jeffrey said that on Friday afternoon last, she received a call from a policewoman who is known to the family. The officer asked about Edwards’ whereabouts, since the headless body matched her features. Jeffrey said she told the police that her sister could be identified by a scar on her right leg. However, the state of decomposition might have made that impossible, added to which, the police had already buried the body.
Jeffrey said the policewoman contacted her the next day, Saturday last, and told her that the head had been found and it was her sister’s. They further explained that the body would be exhumed and a post-mortem examination conducted tomorrow.
Jeffrey explained that residents of the area where her sister was staying recalled the clothes she had been wearing before her disappearance and they fit the description in the police report.
“I feel bad about this. Even though my sister hardly used to talk, she was very willing and loving. I glad if they can find who is responsible for her death, she didn’t deserve to die like that,” Jeffrey said.
Meisha Glen, Edwards’ cousin, told Stabroek News that last Tuesday Edwards and Silus visited Matthews Ridge where they attended court for a domestic violence issue. Silus was expected to be charged, she said, but Edwards asked the magistrate to be lenient with him. A truck driver who is known to the family indicated that he transported the couple to Port Kaituma early last Wednesday morning, Glen explained.
Port Kaituma police discovered Edwards’ partially nude, headless decomposing body on Friday at around 16.30 hrs, in a swamp, surrounded by trees and shrubs. The deceased was clad in a black top pulled up to her chest, exposing her bra, while her lower body was fully exposed. In a subsequent search, the police found her head.
Police said that they visited the home of the man with whom Edwards was staying and searched other parts of the village, to no avail. They are asking anyone with information to come forward.
