BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE lifeless body of 10-year-old Kadeem Pereira was found this morning (Oct. 7) on a plot of land with overgrown grass and small trees a few hundred feet from his home in Godwin Estate.
Pereira, who would have celebrated his 10th birth anniversary today, was reported missing after he was sent to a community shop on Saturday evening (Oct. 5) to purchase a number of items but did not return home.
Speaking to the media, Commissioner of Police Celvin ‘CG’ Walwyn stated that a search operation was launched last night in Godwin Estate, including the area in which the body was found.
“We searched for him last night; we couldn’t find anything. We resumed this morning and found him a while ago in the bushes close to his home.
“We did a linear search in that area last night and because of the number of persons doing the search and because it was dark, we could have overlooked.”
The Commissioner stated that an initial assessment of the body showed no sign of foul play but added that an autopsy would provide the requisite details.
“There's nothing outside of him that appears to be out of place, and that's why we have to get the autopsy to determine exactly the cause of death.
“Just looking at it and looking at the scene, there's nothing right now that shows that it was foul play. We're not saying that it's not, I'm just saying right now that there's nothing that shows that it's foul play.
“There is nothing to indicate at the crime scene that he was placed or there was someone else there. Just looking at the body, I am told by crime scene it doesn’t look out of the ordinary.”
The Commissioner also stated that three tracker dogs were involved in the search and they had picked up his scent in the hills, but it was too thick for them to see.
He further stated that when they returned this morning the scent was not there and the boy was seemingly dead for about two days.
Speaking with this publication, Baka, the boy’s grandfather, said that Pereira went to the shop on Saturday evening and was never seen or heard from again.
“They claimed that he went to the shop and, from the shop, nobody knows what happened to him.”
Asked what he suspected was the cause of death, Baka said, “Nobody can come to any conclusion as yet, because you might speculate that this happened when it is that; so we just have to wait.”
Baka also said that Pereira was a Grade Five student at the Tyrell Williams Primary School and he was among the top students.
SKNVibes also spoke to Lionel ‘Ken’ Rogers, proprietor of the shop in Half Way Tree who is said to be the last person to have seen Pereira before his disappearance.
“It was after six Saturday. He came by the shop and bought sugar and some Kool Aid,” Rogers said, adding that he did not witness anything strange on that day but recalled that the boy’s mother visited his shop on the following day enquiring about his whereabouts.
“I didn’t check to see if he went up or down or did I see anything strange. The next morning his mother came and ask me if I saw her son, and I told her after he bought the Kool Aid and sugar he left the shop.”
Commissioner Walwyn said that the family had reported Pereira missing at the police station on Sunday morning and that his mother had alleged that she had called the said station on the previous night, but no one responded.
The Commissioner stated that on receipt of the report, he immediately launched an investigation and is taking steps to ensure that there would not be a recurrence.
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