PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – A tragic incident has sent shockwaves through a small coastal Trinidadian community after the body of a missing 12-year-old girl was recovered on a remote oil well access road, with a local man now in custody aiding law enforcement’s ongoing probe.
The victim, identified as Mercedez Layne, was first reported missing to authorities on Saturday. According to official police statements, the preteen had stayed overnight at her grandfather’s home before he placed her into a private vehicle arranged to take her back to her own residence. What was supposed to be a routine short trip quickly turned into a nightmare, when the child never arrived at her destination.
Alarmed by Mercedez’s disappearance, the girl’s mother and her grandfather traveled together to the Erin Police Station to file an official missing person report. Law enforcement immediately launched a coordinated search and investigation into the case. Following leads pulled from witness tips and a review of closed-circuit security camera footage, investigators were able to pinpoint the vehicle Mercedez was last seen riding in. The vehicle was later found abandoned; investigators processed the scene, documented the car with photographic evidence, and transported it to the Erin Police Station to be retained as evidence for the continuing inquiry.
On Sunday, a routine work check led to the grim discovery of the young girl’s body. An employee of a local oil company was heading out to inspect an oil well when he came across the body of a young female, lying face down along the unpaved access road leading to the well site. The worker contacted the Erin Police Station immediately, and first responders rushed to the remote location. After processing the crime scene, the body was formally confirmed to be that of the missing 12-year-old.
Local law enforcement confirmed to Caribbean Media Corporation that a 26-year-old man has been taken into custody in connection with Mercedez’s death, and remains in police custody as investigators continue to piece together the full circumstances of the case.