分类： society

A horrific murder investigation has been launched in Siparia after the body of 62-year-old Dennis Archargee, a retired local worker who lived alone, was recovered from the pit of an outdoor outhouse adjacent to his home this Friday. The grim find came after a concerned relative alerted local police that Archargee’s property appeared disturbed and the elderly man had not been seen by neighbors for nearly three days.

Details of the case, released through official police reports, outline that the relative arrived at Archargee’s Quarry Road residence around 10 a.m. Friday to check on his welfare, after neighbors confirmed they had not spotted him since Tuesday the previous week. Finding the front door padlocked and getting no response to repeated calls, the relative forced open the lock to enter the property—and immediately noticed clear signs that the home had been ransacked by intruders.

Along with the disarray inside the residence, the relative discovered several high-value items were missing: Archargee’s gas tank, portable generator, brush cutter, and his white Nissan B14 sedan had all been stolen from the property. Police were called to the scene within minutes, and officers launched a search of the surrounding grounds. During that sweep, investigators found Archargee’s body, lying face-down in the deep pit of the outhouse sitting on his property.

The entire area was immediately cordoned off to preserve evidence, with specialist crime scene investigators and forensic personnel processing the location for clues. Archargee’s remains were transported to the Forensic Science Centre in Federation Park, where a post-mortem examination will be carried out to confirm the official cause of death. Ahead of the discovery, the Hunters Search and Rescue Team, a volunteer group led by Vallence Rambharat, had been called in to assist with locating the missing man; the team was en route to the Siparia site when they received word that the body had been found.

Separately, police confirmed that Archargee’s stolen vehicle was found abandoned on Thursday, a day before the body was discovered, at Skinner Trace in Quarry Village.

Archargee’s stepdaughter Jennelle Benard, 37, spoke publicly about the loss, recalling that the last time she saw her stepfather was on the previous Sunday, when he stopped by her home to drop off a pack of cigarettes for her mother, Chanroutie Sookram-Lemo. Sookram-Lemo and Archargee had been in a relationship for more than 30 years, but after Sookram-Lemo suffered a stroke last year, she moved in to live with Benard, leaving Archargee to live alone at their Quarry Road property.

Benard described Archargee as a loving, dependable father figure who worked as a truck driver, mechanic, and welder over his career, and was always willing to help his family with any need. Two days before the body was found, Benard and Archargee’s brother Rudy had traveled to the property to search for him after growing concerned by his absence. During that search, Benard pulled open the door of the outhouse but did not check the deep pit, assuming he would not be hidden there.

It was only when relatives returned to the home alongside police on Friday that officers made the fatal discovery. “One of the officers went into the outhouse and he looked inside, that was it. Why would they do such a thing? I looked in right there and I didn’t see him. This world we live in, the people don’t have a heart for anybody else,” a tearful Benard said in the aftermath of the discovery.

“Dennis was a good man he would try to support us and assist wherever he could. Anywhere I wanted to go, he would take us. Anything we wanted he would bring it. He was always there for us,” she added. “This is very, very heartbreaking, but I am leaving this in the hands of the Lord.”

As of Friday evening, police had not announced any arrests in connection with Archargee’s death and the robbery of his property, and investigations remain ongoing.

Five days after a devastating fire disabled a commercial yellowfin tuna fishing vessel in the remote waters off South America’s northeastern coast, a desperate urgent appeal has gone out to regional governments, maritime agencies and commercial ships to ramp up search-and-rescue operations for the six crew members still missing at sea.

The vessel, identified as the *St. Vincent VII*, owned by Trinidad and Tobago-based Renata Enterprises Ltd, departed Chaguaramas’ Tardieu Marine yard on July 6 with a multi-national crew on a fishing expedition. The team includes four nationals from Trinidad and Tobago, one crew member from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and a Guyanese captain, Eshwar “Shanie” Persaud. Among the Trinidadian crew is Shannon “Joey” Mohammed, whose wife Amanda Suraj has spearheaded the public call for help after days of silence from the vessel.

According to details shared by Suraj, the fire broke out on the vessel at approximately 6:30 a.m. on July 13, while the *St. Vincent VII* was operating near the overlapping maritime borders of Suriname and French Guiana. Within hours of the blaze, the ship lost all power and communication capabilities, leaving no way for the crew to signal for help or share their location. No confirmed sightings of the vessel or any of the crew have been recorded since that initial fire report.

Without power or propulsion, experts say the disabled fishing boat is adrift, carried by prevailing trade winds and Atlantic Ocean currents across the wide expanse of ocean bounded by Suriname, French Guiana and northern Brazil. This vast, remote stretch of sea makes uncoordinated search efforts extremely difficult, prompting Suraj to reach out to regional and international stakeholders for coordinated support.

In an emotional phone interview with *Express* on Tuesday, Suraj said her family has received no credible updates on the crew’s location or status, leaving them in a state of agonizing uncertainty. “We are desperately pleading with regional media houses to broadcast this information immediately to reach as many people in the maritime community as possible,” she stated.

Suraj’s appeal extends to all levels of authority and commercial operators in the region: “We urgently need intervention from neighbouring maritime assets, passing commercial vessels, and local authorities in French Guiana, Suriname, and Brazil to deploy search-and-rescue teams to the area. Any vessel transiting this stretch of water is asked to remain on high alert for any sign of the *St. Vincent VII* or its crew.” She has also called on international search-and-rescue bodies to expand their operating areas to cover the full range of possible drift paths the disabled vessel could have taken, ending her appeal with a quiet note of hope for the safe return of her husband and his five crewmates.

Five days after a devastating fire disabled a Trinidad and Tobago-registered yellowfin tuna fishing vessel in the remote border waters of Suriname, French Guiana and Brazil, families and loved ones of the six-person crew have issued a desperate plea for stepped-up search and rescue operations across the region.

The ill-fated vessel, owned by local firm Renata Enterprises Limited, departed Chaguaramas’ Tardieu Marine yard on July 6 with a multinational crew on a planned fishing voyage. Among the six people on board are four nationals of Trinidad and Tobago, one sailor from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and captain Eshwar “Shanie” Persaud, a Guyanese national. One of the Trinidadian crew members is Shannon Mohammed, whose wife Amanda Suraj has spearheaded the public appeal for assistance.

Per family accounts, the fire broke out at approximately 6:30 a.m. on July 13 as the vessel operated near the overlapping maritime boundaries of Suriname and French Guiana. In the immediate aftermath of the blaze, the boat lost all power and onboard communications systems, cutting off all contact with the outside world. To date, no visual sightings of the vessel or crew have been confirmed, leaving families in limbo waiting for any update on their loved ones’ fates.

Experts and family members say the disabled vessel is now adrift, carried by prevailing winds and ocean currents across the vast expanse of water between the three South American coastal nations. In an urgent interview with Trinidad and Tobago’s *Express* newspaper on Saturday, Suraj made a broad plea for coordinated action from all stakeholders in the region, calling on local governments, coast guard agencies, maritime authorities, commercial shipping operators and regional media outlets to join the search effort.

“We are desperately pleading with regional media houses to broadcast this information immediately,” Suraj stated. “We urgently need intervention from neighboring maritime assets, passing commercial vessels, and local authorities in French Guiana, Suriname, and Brazil to deploy search and rescue teams to the area.”

Suraj added that no new information about the crew’s location has emerged since the vessel’s last confirmed contact on July 13, and she has urged all vessels transiting the affected area to maintain a sharp lookout for any sign of the drifting fishing boat or its crew. She also called on international maritime search and rescue organizations to expand their search parameters to cover the full area the vessel is expected to have drifted to, emphasizing that the crew’s families hold out hope for a safe rescue. The expanding appeal comes as time grows increasingly critical for the missing sailors, who have now been adrift without support for five full days.