BREAKING: Teen cousins found hacked to death in West Berbice backdam

This composite photo shows Joel Henry (left) and Isaiah Henry (right), even as villagers line the roadway at West Berbice

The village of Number Three, West Berbice, is in a state of shock and unease after a search for two teenagers that started Saturday night, ended earlier this afternoon, with them being found hacked to death in the backdam at Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice.

The victims were confirmed to be 18-year-old Joel Henry and his 16-year-old cousin, Isaiah Henry, both of Number Three Village.

Speaking with BIG Smith News Watch this evening, a sister of Joel Henry said she received the news that her brother was missing and travelled to the community.

She said she along with others went in search of him, and based on what relatives gathered, he was on his way home when his cousin asked him to accompany him back into the backdam to pick coconuts.

Relatives said the land on which the teens were picking the coconuts is a private one that belongs to a resident who lives a few villages away.

After the teens did not return home by 9 o’clock on Saturday night, relatives went to the police to file a missing persons’ report, but were told that they needed to wait the required 24 hours before ranks could entertain a missing persons’ report, and/or launch any search.

It was at that point that the relatives of the boys formed a search party and went looking for them.

The search ended about midnight on Saturday and recommenced around 4 o’clock on Sunday morning. It continued all day until the grisly discovery of their remains late Sunday afternoon.

A slashed head, broken backs and feet, gaping chops to the face and other parts of the boys, are said to be among the marks of violence found on the teenage cousins.

Patricia Henry, Isaiah Henry’s mother, told this publication that she informed her relatives earlier on Saturday that she did not want him going into the backdam.

She said that she became worried Saturday night after realising that her son was not home, and indicated that he would not be out that late. Going into the backdam was nothing new for him.

It was the residents and relatives who found the remains of the teens, and they are claiming that the police were not cooperating with them. They felt that the police should have lead the search.

The bodies of the two teens bore a high stench when they were brought out of the backdam.