Trelawny cops seek help to identify decapitated remains
Published:Wednesday | December 11, 2024 | 12:11 AMAdrian Frater/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The Trelawny police are seeking to identify a headless corpse discovered on Monday in the Wire Fence district. The body was found wrapped in plastic bags and bed sheets.
While the police were able to determine that the victim is a male, no distinguishing features were visible to further aid identification.
Wire Fence is a small, close-knit community near Wait-A-Bit in the south of the parish. Given that all residents have been accounted for, locals believe the deceased man was not from the area.
“We don’t know where him come from and what he was doing here,” a resident told The Gleaner. “He could have been killed elsewhere and dumped here.”
Superintendent Winston Milton, the commanding officer for Trelawny, urged anyone with critical information to assist the police.
“We have not been able to identify the body or determine a motive for the killing or [identify] any suspect or suspects who might be involved in the killing,” said Milton.
While he did not elaborate on the condition of the body, the superintendent acknowledged that the decapitation suggests an act of violence.
He used the opportunity to encourage Jamaicans to seek the support of police officers and justices of the peace to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence. He noted that many murders in Trelawny in recent years have stemmed from interpersonal disputes.
“We are having issues with conflict resolution in the parish, so we are encouraging persons to try to settle issues through dialogue,” said Milton. “We have engaged many stakeholders such as our justices of the peace to help facilitate and mediate discussion with persons in conflict … . We, the police, are willing to facilitate mediation as much as we can.”
Trelawny remains the safest parish in western Jamaica in terms of murders, recording 23 homicides between January 1 and December 7 this year, one fewer than the corresponding period last year. This figure is significantly lower than the murder tallies in the other three parishes within Area One: St James, Hanover, and Westmoreland.
During the same period, St James reported 120 murders; Westmoreland had 96; and Hanover saw 45. All three parishes have also seen reductions compared to the previous year.