Missing boy found dead on river bank

Three days of extensive searches for missing eight-year-old Daniel Guerra ended in tragedy yesterday, as the boy’s decomposing body was discovered along the Tarouba Link Road, San Fernando. As soca music blasted from the nearby Tarouba Recreation Ground where a cricket match was in progress, Guerra’s relatives wailed and screamed when they saw his bloated body. Police reports state the Gasparillo Government Primary School student’s body was found in the vicinity of the large landslip along the Tarouba  Link Road at around 5 pm. A passer-by contacted police after the boy’s body was spotted on the bank of the Tarouba River.

Police spectulated that the body washed up on the bank and might have been dumped a short distance from where it was discovered. The cause of the boy’s death is yet to be determined. Police, however, said it was too early to say if there were marks of violence. Police cordoned off the Link Road, preventing vehicular traffic from entering and leaving the area as crime scene investigators combed the river bank for evidence. In the fading light, they used flash lights to continue their work.   

Guerra’s mother Ramona Indarsingh was escorted to the scene by police. As the distraught woman stared at her son’s body from a distance, she was supported by police officers. Relatives were reluctant to speak with the media and instead leaned on each other for support. While the circumstances surrounding Guerra’s death remain unclear, Tabaquite MP Dr Surajrattan Rambachan, who had earlier in the day visited Guerra’s home at Bedeau Street, Gasparillo, condemned those responsible for the student’s death.

“This is a heinous crime in which an innocent child has died...It is the kind of crime that deserves maximum punishment,” he declared. “It encourages me even more to ensure the Capital Punishment Bill being debated in Parliament will be passed so that these kinds of crimes will be classified as murder one. “There is no excuse whatsoever for the murder of an innocent child, whatever the circumstances. “I hope that the police will get to the bottom of this as fast as possible.” Rambachan said Guerra’s disappearance on Friday afternoon “has caused apprehension in Gasparillo and environs and therefore it is important that this murder be solved.” He said after spending almost two hours with Guerra’s family yesterday, he particularly “felt the pain” of the boy’s grandparents. Investigations into Guerra’s death are continuing.