3 weeks ago
4
Sascha Wilson
Senior Reporter
The police and T&T Coast Guard yesterday launched aerial, marine and land searches for missing couple Samuel Montano and Zaheeda Mohammed, amid growing fears that they may be dead after blood and spent shells were found in Montano’s home.
Montano, 44, and his girlfriend Zaheeda Mohammed, 36, were last seen around 11 am on Saturday by his sister, who lives nearby. Mohammed lives at St John’s Village in San Fernando but was spending the long weekend at Montano’s home at Sunset Cove Extension in La Romain.
On Sunday, Montano’s sister made a disturbing discovery—a trail of blood leading from the house to the nearby shoreline. Inside the home, police investigators later found a bloody bedsheet, 23 spent shell casings—seven of which reportedly bore markings associated with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS)—and a clump of hair believed to belong to Mohammed.
Police say the ammunition recovered included both 9mm and 5.56 calibre rounds.
T&T Coast Guard divers searched the sea near the property, while cadaver dogs and aerial units scoured surrounding areas but were no closer to finding the couple’s location up to last evening.
Police suspect the couple was dragged from the home into a boat and taken away. One of the motives being looked into is that the attack was carried out because Montano owed money to some “unscrupulous people.”
At the scene yesterday, Mohammed’s father, Rickie, was in tears. He does not believe that his daughter is alive. “No, she died,” he told reporters.
“What I seeing here, I see everything, body drag, body gone into the sea. They dispatch with the evidence… either put blocks on the body and sink it in the water, below the rig,” he lamented.
However, he prayed that her body would be found soon.
“I put my trust in the Almighty and my prayers and all I can ask Almighty God to release them, wherever they may be, so that we can come to a closure and accept… they will find them,” he said.
The father said his daughter worked at the San Fernando City Corporation and loved her two children, ages 18 and 13. Despite the circumstances, Mohammed’s father insists his daughter had no involvement in illegal activities.
“She liked him and liked to be around him. She was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said.
One of Montano’s relatives said the couple began dating after Montano was released from prison three years ago, where he served time on narcotics charges.
At Mohammed’s home, her close friend, Kevin Stuart, said they were still hoping the couple is alive.
“We just waiting for some answers right now,” he lamented.
Stuart said Mohammed’s children were not coping well, especially since their father was murdered some time ago. He was also concerned that spent shells with “TTPS” markings were found at the house.
“Is a horrible thing knowing that they can find police spent shells on a crime scene,” he said.
Contacted yesterday on the incident, however, Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander did not want to make too much of the markings on the casings, noting that in past investigations, criminals have been known to file fake TTPS markings onto bullets to mislead authorities and damage public trust in law enforcement.
“We have information that persons pay a lot of money to have that done to transfer the blame of their behaviour from themselves onto an identity which was really designed to protect and serve, which would cause an erosion of trust and confidence in that institution. It has been going on for a while. When we checked, and especially after an audit was done, there was no, none, nil TTPS bullets missing in any one of the institutions.”
However, the minister said if an investigation confirms the bullets are in fact from TTPS stock, appropriate action will be taken.
“The chips will fall where it may and that is how this Government is dealing with these things,” he said.
Also contacted yesterday, Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro said a forensic analysis has to be done to ascertain if they were authentic TTPS ammunition. Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner of Police South Central, Wayne Mystar, has confirmed an internal investigation is now underway into this matter. He is urging anyone with information on the couple’s disappearance to contact the police. Members of the public can contact the San Fernando Police Station, 800-TIPS, 999 or 555.
English (US) ·