Marlene arrives in Jamaica

Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller has given the assurance that her police officers are working very hard to get whoever is responsible for the disappearance of Trinidadian Michelle Coudray-Greaves. In an interview on television station CNC3 last night, PM Simpson-Miller, asked about the case said: “It is very sad and something we do not condone and which we condemn and are working very hard to ensure that we get the criminals so people can live in peace, whether from overseas or resident in Jamaica.”

She said Jamaica is a peaceful country and she wants to keep it that way. Simpson-Miller said they will do all they can to deal with people who want to give Jamaica a bad reputation. San Fernando mayor Marlene Coudray, mother of the missing woman, arrived yesterday at the Sangster International Airport, Montego Bay, around 3.55 pm (Jamaica time), and went straight into a meeting with the local police to get an update of the status of the investigation.

Coudray, accompanied by her partner Lawrence Achong and her brother Noel Jones, presented her daughter’s dental records to the police officers in an effort to determine whether the bones found at a burnt-out canefield in Montego Bay on Monday belonged to the missing schoolteacher.

Sources in Jamaica told the Guardian last night that by the end of the week when the dental records and DNA sample from the bones are matched, the police will be able to make a determination. Deputy Superintendent of the Jamaican Constabulary Communication Network, Steve Brown, in an earlier interview, said he was not authorised to make any statement until he gave the Coudray family an update. He declined comment when asked about an autopsy.

Adrian Frater, News Editor of the Gleaner Newspaper, said as far as he understands, there was no autopsy, as the remains are just a few bones. He said the most that can be done is forensic testing to extract a DNA sample. Frater said Coudray and her family members were met yesterday at the airport by Montego Bay mayor Glendon Harris and Trinidad and Tobago High Commissioner Dr Iva Gloudon.

He said she was shielded from the waiting members of the media and taken to the Rose Hall Hilton for a meeting with the police. “We never got a chance to speak to her...Members in her party said she was too distraught to speak to the media,” Frater said. “They said after she has settled and composed herself, they would make a determination as to whether or not she will speak to the media.”

Speaking on Nationwide Radio in Jamaica yesterday,  Asst Commissioner of Police Devon Watkis, who had a meeting with Coudray, said the case has generated widespread interest. He said the police are still treating Coudray-Greaves as a missing person and officers have been speaking with close friends and associates who may be able to advance their probe.

Watkis said they have several people of interest, but no clear suspect as yet. “The case is a very sensitive, it is generating widespread interest and we are giving it the highest priority,” he said. “We are quite appreciative of the magnitude of interest it is generating. We are conscious of the importance of our regional relationship and need to ensure that the investigation is dealt with the highest level of professionalism.”