Two Choiseul families are claiming that skeletal remains found near a shack in that community this week may be that of men related to them who had gone missing for some time.
Chermain Ismael is convinced that the remains are that of her brother Kervin Phillip, who went missing since 2013. But a relative of “Manistess” Stephen is also claiming that the bones could be his. Stephen has been missing for a few years now.
However, a police source told Saint Lucia News Online (SNO) that they never received missing persons reports for either of the men.
The source, while emphatically stating that no confirmation has been made with regards to an identity, said investigations and the non-scientific evidence gathered so far point to the remains being that of Phillip. Investigations are continuing, the source said.
Ismael told SNO that she is confident that the remains are that of her brother since they were found near his home.
She explained that Phillip had lived in the area after converting to Rastafari and opted to live in isolation. Phillip wore dreadlocks.
“Before he used to build bed and chairs … and then he left and joined the Rastafari [movement] and he went to live down in the valley. He didn’t want to be close to any of his relatives. Sometimes I would meet him and I would call him and he would say that’s not his name…” she said.
She said he was the only person who lived in the area he was found.
However, Stephen’s relative said the remains seem to not be that of a “rasta guy.”
“The skeleton remains is believed to be that of my cousin who has been missing for a few years now. He was mentally unstable as no evidence of locks and teeth were found therefore cannot be the rasta guy,” the relative who preferred to remain anonymous said while later adding that her cousin Stephen had no teeth and was bald.
“My mom, who is his first cousin, said there is quite some controversy over that body down there,” the relative added.
A search was conducted for Stephen, but it was halted after efforts were exhausted.
Stephen was reportedly last seen boarding a La Farge bus in 2006.