Cops excavate West Bank property for body of missing woman
As the search continues for missing Prospect resident Shawnette Savory, investigators yesterday began excavating a Belle West, Canal Number Two property for her body but with no results.
The operation, which was conducted by ranks from the Major Crimes Unit, lasted approximately five hours.
Savory, 37, of Lot 222 Last Street, Prospect, East Bank Demerara, and a mother of one, left her home on the afternoon of August 29th and has not been seen or heard from since. Her sister, Vanessa Ramcharran, last spoke to her on the same day she went missing and Savory had informed her that she was going to buy credit for her electricity meter. Savory subsequently returned home and topped up the meter and the landlady said she saw her leave again.
A missing person’s report was subsequently made at the Providence Police Station.
Following Savory’s disappearance, her family received calls and messages informing that a woman matching her description had been seen at a shack in Belle West, Canal Number Two, West Bank Demerara and that she was being held against her will. A check had been made at the shack by relatives accompanied by police ranks but nothing was found.
The family was informed that the shack belonged to the sister of a man Savory was once romantically involved with, but the relationship had ended not too long ago. The man was reportedly not too pleased about Savory’s decision to end the relationship.
A source indicated to this newspaper that the police are currently pursuing the man and his reputed wife as suspects in the woman’s disappearance. They have since vanished and it is suspected that the man might have fled the jurisdiction.
When Stabroek News visited the scene yesterday, ranks equipped with the necessary tools including spades, shovels, pitchforks and sledge hammers cleared the shack, which measures some 10 x14 ft of all the household items and dug up the soil, which was removed by the use of wheelbarrows. They also removed a concrete floor in the shack and in front its entrance, which were said to have been constructed after Savory’s disappearance.
The high bushes around the shack were also inspected by the investigators, who even searched a pit latrine located at the back and upturned a black water tank.
Residents of the community also gathered in their numbers in anticipation of the search. However, a photograph of Savory was the only thing found.
Ramcharran said yesterday that the family was satisfied with yesterday’s operation and will continue to work closely with the police in an effort to find her missing sister.