- had disappeared on Friday

The woman, who was murdered and dumped on the Kitty seawalls on Saturday, has been positively identified as 26-year-old Patricia Newman-Charles of 40 Waini Street , Meadow Brook Gardens .

Unsolved murder

Relatives identified the body on Saturday night after viewing the woman's remains at the Lyken Funeral Parlour. They said that Charles had been missing since Friday.

Initial reports had suggested that the victim was a Brazilian. This was gleaned from interviews with some Brazilians who said they knew the victim and that she was one of them. They even offered a name.

The dead woman's sister, Diana Ramotar, said that Charles, a mother of three, left her home at around 21:00hrs on Friday, but had not indicated where she was going.

“I was in my bedroom when she called and asked me if I was going out. I told her no. She asked me to look over her children…That was the last I heard from her.”

The woman's husband told Kaieteur News that he last saw his wife, with whom he had separated, at around 08:30hrs on Friday, when he went to pick up the couple's children in Meadow Brook.

According to the man, Patricia told him that she had to stay at home “to do business.”

Ramotar said that her sister was wearing blue jeans, a black top and a pair of blue Nike boots. She added that Patricia Charles was also wearing jewellery that included two gold chains, three stud-earrings and a toe-ring. She also had a hand-bag.

However, only the toe-ring and earrings were intact when the body was found.

According to the woman, Patricia would normally call to inquire about her children whenever she was away from them.

They therefore became worried after the night passed and they failed to hear from her.

After calling relatives to find out if they had seen her Ramotar was finally told by her brother on Saturday that the police had come to his home asking him to identify a woman's body that had been found on the seawalls.

The woman said that they suspected that it was Patricia after getting a description of the woman and being told that she was wearing large stud earrings.

Ramotar was unable to think of anyone who would have wanted to harm her sister, since, as far as she knew, Patricia had no enemies.

Monday 10-10-2005