The family of a missing Chaguanas man are holding out hope that the burnt human remains found in a car yesterday are not his.
Relatives of Ahmad Sayyid Ramsingh, 28, of Warner Village, Chaguanas, say although he has been missing since Tuesday night, they are still hoping he will return home safely soon. His blue Toyota Scion coupe, registration PCK 5301, is also missing.
However, the family must now await forensic results on the remains found in the car before they can move on.
Around 8 am yesterday, police were called in when a farmer found the burnt shell of a Toyota vehicle off the Waterloo Road, which links Carapichaima to Couva. The charred remains of a body were found inside the car.
Speaking to the T&T Guardian yesterday at their Warner Village home, Ramsingh's cousin, Anisah Bullock, said the family was still clueless as to why Ramsingh was targeted. Ramsingh lived alone in an apartment a short distance away from his parents' home. The building he lived in is owned by his parents.
"We have no idea why he was targeted but whoever did this... it was well planned.
"He was a quiet, ambitious guy and this family does not have any problems with anyone.
"We know a car similar to his was found but we are hopeful it was not him. We have no confirmation from the police and so far we are holding onto the hope that he will come home," she added.
Bullock said the family first discovered the Atlantic plant operator was missing on Wednesday night when one of his co-workers called out of concern that he had not shown up to work the previous night.
Calls to his cellphone went straight to voicemail and Ramsingh's father, Clive, and his brother made their way to his apartment.
They found his room ransacked. The tapes from the building's surveillance system were missing, as well as appliances, laptops and music setups. A report was made to the Chaguanas Police Station on Wednesday night.
Bullock said the family was willing to give deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples to police.
"We have the hope that it is not him in that car... but we are willing to give samples to the police to help out the investigation," she said.
She said several relatives formed a search party yesterday morning and scoured the grassy lots in the community.
"We didn't know if whoever took his car dumped him somewhere in the area. They looked through all the overgrown lots but we didn't find anything," Bullock said.
Bullock said Ramsingh had plans to connect the surveillance feed for his cameras to his parents' home but had not gotten around to the task. She said he had been employed with Atlantic since January and described him as a quiet, hard working person.
"He is the life of the party when the family gets together. He would be the one to call and get everyone together... we never expected crime to come to our small, close-knit family like this."
She made a final appeal to anyone with information on Ramsingh's disappearance to contact the police, saying: "Contact someone, tell someone if there is anything you know or you have seen. We are pleading with anyone who has information to come forward."
Up until 5 pm yesterday, police were at Ramsingh's apartment testing for fingerprints. Police believe Ramsingh was kidnapped from his apartment between Tuesday and Wednesday.
According to reports, a farmer heading to his plantation off the Waterloo Connector Road around 8 am when on reaching some 100 metres inside, he found the burnt minivan with the charred remains in the driver's seat. He contacted the Emergency 999 hotline and within minutes Freeport police responded.
At the scene yesterday, the farmer's son said it was the first time they had seen criminal activity in the area. Investigators believe the victim was killed and the minivan set ablaze on Wednesday night, as the area has no street lights and houses for miles. The Connector Road runs from Waterloo to Couva through old cane lands.
Investigators said they were looking into several theories, including Ramsingh's involvement with a woman he met recently.