Bahamas News
11-12-04, - 05:12 AM
Bahamian Killed In Jamaica
By Sharon Williams
The Bahama Journal
Students of the Northern Caribbean University express their grief at a service at the institution Wednesday night, following news that the body of fellow student Joseph Burrowes had been discovered. The 22 year-old Bahamian student went missing on Saturday night. Photo Courtesy of The Jamaica Observer.
FREEPORT, Grand Bahama – Jamaican authorities confirmed last night that the young Bahamian man who had been missing since Saturday was found shot to death off a main city thoroughfare on that island.
Corporal Rovan Salmon, liaison officer for the Mandeville police station, told the Bahama Journal that the body of Joseph Burrows, a 22-year-old college student, was found around 3pm yesterday along the Winston Jones Highway in Mandeville.
“The body was clad in a blue windbreaker, a pair of blue jeans pants and [was] barefooted in a partial state of decomposition,” he said. “There is a wound to the head that I would say is consistent with a gunshot wound.”
Corporal Salmon said Jamaican police had no significant leads and were making “impassionate pleas” for residents to come forward with any information they might have in connection with the killing.
He said the young man’s body was identified by his father, father-in-law and the pastor who recently married him.
Burrows was a student at Northern Caribbean University in Mandeville, where his wife is also enrolled.
Grief-stricken family and friends gathered at the Burrows home in Freeport last night after receiving news of the brutal killing.
Burrows lived with the wife and young daughter in Mandeville prior to his murder.
When the Journal contacted Pastor Glen Samuel in Jamaica, screams of anguish could be heard in the background from Burrows’ wife. The pastor said he could not speak because he was trying to console her.
The young man’s father, Steven Burrows, flew to Jamaica after learning that his son had gone missing. His family in Freeport on Tuesday had asked for the public’s prayers that their loved one would be found safe.
Corporal Salmon said, “We know that sometime between Saturday night and early Sunday morning, [Burrows] had gone to the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant to make a purchase when it would seem that he was pounced upon by some unknown perpetrator.”
He confirmed that Burrows was abducted and said the student’s black Honda Acura which was found Monday, is now in the custody of Mandeville police.
Dr. Patricia Rodgers, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the Journal on Tuesday that the Ministry learned of Burrows’ disappearance Monday evening.
She said Ministry officials had been communicating with Jamaican authorities since that time.
However, Dr. Rodgers’ assistant said last evening that the permanent secretary was not aware of any new developments in the case.
According to the October 12 edition of the Jamaica Observer, the murder count in the country at that point was 1,048.
The newspaper said Jamaican police had, for the third straight week, reported over 30 murders within a seven-day period.
www.thebahamajournal.com
By Sharon Williams
The Bahama Journal
Students of the Northern Caribbean University express their grief at a service at the institution Wednesday night, following news that the body of fellow student Joseph Burrowes had been discovered. The 22 year-old Bahamian student went missing on Saturday night. Photo Courtesy of The Jamaica Observer.
FREEPORT, Grand Bahama – Jamaican authorities confirmed last night that the young Bahamian man who had been missing since Saturday was found shot to death off a main city thoroughfare on that island.
Corporal Rovan Salmon, liaison officer for the Mandeville police station, told the Bahama Journal that the body of Joseph Burrows, a 22-year-old college student, was found around 3pm yesterday along the Winston Jones Highway in Mandeville.
“The body was clad in a blue windbreaker, a pair of blue jeans pants and [was] barefooted in a partial state of decomposition,” he said. “There is a wound to the head that I would say is consistent with a gunshot wound.”
Corporal Salmon said Jamaican police had no significant leads and were making “impassionate pleas” for residents to come forward with any information they might have in connection with the killing.
He said the young man’s body was identified by his father, father-in-law and the pastor who recently married him.
Burrows was a student at Northern Caribbean University in Mandeville, where his wife is also enrolled.
Grief-stricken family and friends gathered at the Burrows home in Freeport last night after receiving news of the brutal killing.
Burrows lived with the wife and young daughter in Mandeville prior to his murder.
When the Journal contacted Pastor Glen Samuel in Jamaica, screams of anguish could be heard in the background from Burrows’ wife. The pastor said he could not speak because he was trying to console her.
The young man’s father, Steven Burrows, flew to Jamaica after learning that his son had gone missing. His family in Freeport on Tuesday had asked for the public’s prayers that their loved one would be found safe.
Corporal Salmon said, “We know that sometime between Saturday night and early Sunday morning, [Burrows] had gone to the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant to make a purchase when it would seem that he was pounced upon by some unknown perpetrator.”
He confirmed that Burrows was abducted and said the student’s black Honda Acura which was found Monday, is now in the custody of Mandeville police.
Dr. Patricia Rodgers, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the Journal on Tuesday that the Ministry learned of Burrows’ disappearance Monday evening.
She said Ministry officials had been communicating with Jamaican authorities since that time.
However, Dr. Rodgers’ assistant said last evening that the permanent secretary was not aware of any new developments in the case.
According to the October 12 edition of the Jamaica Observer, the murder count in the country at that point was 1,048.
The newspaper said Jamaican police had, for the third straight week, reported over 30 murders within a seven-day period.
www.thebahamajournal.com