A week-long search for a missing community member in the quiet coastal community of Icacos took a tragic turn on Thursday, when a multi-agency search team recovered a dismembered body from the area’s dense wetland swamps. The search operation, which brought together volunteer hunters and specialized police units, was launched after 50-year-old Indar Rampersad, a local coconut picker who had lived alone in the area for years, was reported vanished after neighbors had not seen him for nearly seven days.
The grim discovery was the result of coordinated efforts between the volunteer Hunters Search and Rescue Team, headed by veteran search coordinator Vallence Rambharat, and three specialized police divisions: the police Air Support Unit, the South Western Division Task Force, and local Cedros Police officers. According to official police briefings, the recovered body was found with its head severed from the torso. The victim was found shirtless and barefoot, and the corpse had been deliberately concealed under a layer of freshly cut grass before being located by searchers.
Shortly after the body was located at approximately 2:00 p.m. local time, Rambharat confirmed the find in a public social media post timestamped 2:03 p.m., noting that the body was uncovered during the active search for Rampersad. Law enforcement officials moved quickly to contact Rampersad’s next of kin following the discovery, and are now working with family members to complete a formal positive identification of the remains.
When reached for comment by local outlet the Express Thursday evening, an anonymous member of Rampersad’s family shared new details about the missing man’s life in Icacos. The relative confirmed that Rampersad was officially reported missing to police Monday evening, after local residents grew concerned when he failed to appear at his regular coconut selling route. A well-known figure in the small community, Rampersad made his living harvesting coconuts that local buyers would purchase to process into coconut oil, and neighbors began asking after him when he stopped showing up to sell his stock.
The relative explained that Rampersad lived a solitary life, residing alone in an abandoned property near the local district health centre. He never married and had no children, and was the only person currently reported missing from the Icacos community. He also shared identifying markers that will help investigators confirm whether the body found is that of Rampersad: the missing man has no tattoos, lacks an official birth certificate, and lost one of his fingers in a decades-old boat accident, when the digit was crushed and severed during a work outing.
Commenting on the details of the discovery, the relative noted that the black long pants and black belt found on the body matched clothing that Rampersad regularly wore. Echoing the police description of the scene, he added that the location of the find was a remote Icacos swamp, and the concealment of the body under cut grass suggests foul play. “Somebody kill (the person) because they say the body cover down with grass,” the relative told the Express.
As of Thursday evening, investigators from the Homicide Bureau of Investigations Region Three have taken over the case. Officials have not yet confirmed a potential motive for the killing, and many key details of the disappearance and death remain unconfirmed as the formal identification process and crime scene investigation move forward.