bahamiangoddess
06-30-08, - 10:36 AM
June 30th, 2008
Families View Boys’ Remains
BY VANESSA C. ROLLE
http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/bdd18c42cb.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/)
The remains of four murdered Grand Bahama boys were laid out Sunday. (Photo/Vanessa C. Rolle)
FREEPORT, Grand Bahama – Five years ago, four young boys walked out of their homes – perhaps to do the things that boys do.
Their families never saw them alive again.
On Sunday, those relatives finally viewed the boys’ remains.
Keith McSweeney, funeral director of Restview Mortuary and Crematorium, and his helpers, wheeled out four royal blue coffins and lined them up on the side of the walls one by one in preparation for the viewing.
Then Mr. McSweeney emerged with the first brown box, decorated with blue and white stripes around the edges, bearing the name Desmond Rolle, 14.
Next he brought out the remains of Deangelo McKenzie, 13, and then Mackinson Colas, 11, and finally, the remains of Junior Reme, 11.
(A fifth boy – Jake Grant – also went missing in 2003, but police said his remains were never found and his case has been treated as a separate matter.)
The bones of the four boys were wrapped in white paper in the decorated brown boxes, sitting on a brown chestnut table, flanked by elegant standing lamps and flowers.
Then the families were led into the viewing area where they sat down in burgundy and gold love seats facing the four boxes.
Rev. Glenroy Bethel, spokesperson for the families of the missing boys, said a prayer and then the relatives of each boy were directed to a box of the boy related to them.
Mr. McSweeney opened the boxes with a box cutter and unfolded the thin sheets of white wrapping paper to reveal the skeletal remains of the missing boys to their families.
There were shrilling cries and shrieks from the mothers, along with Deangelo’s grandmother, Marilyn Davis.
"Oh Lord, look at my child," screamed Charlene Smith, upon viewing the remains of her son, Desmond.
Claudette Mitchell, Mackinson’s mother, had to be held as she wailed over her son’s remains, shaking her head as the tears streamed down her face.
Her cries were guttural and intense.
"I don’t deserve this as a mother," she cried. "I feel bad…terrible. I feel sick."
Amidst tears, wailing and groaning, Ms. Mitchell said, "I don’t deserve that. I only could say thank you Lord. I can see him…even though this isn’t how I want to see him, but I can have some place now to go when I remember him."
Angelie Tima, Junior’s sister, was uncontrollable as she viewed her brother’s remains.
Reporters were told that their mother did not show up for the viewing because she felt it would be too much for her to bear.
Junior’s sister said she was still living in Haiti waiting to join her family in The Bahamas when her brother went missing in 2003.
"We were very, very close," she said.
"He so loved me…oh Lord. Every time he [kept] talking about me. He said ‘Mommy, Mommy when my sister coming to The Bahamas?’
"Every time, my mommy [said], ‘I don’t have [any] money’. But he would say ‘I’m going to work to let my sister come to The Bahamas because I love my sister so much."
Chiddina Taylor, Deangelo’s aunt, said that having viewed his remains, the family can have some kind of closure.
She said she saw Deangelo as a son.
"Although there is closure, it is painful and it is hurting to see him in that form," Ms. Taylor said.
"This is something that we never experienced before and it is something that we would always have to deal with for the rest of our lives…," she said.
"We want to thank the Bahamian people who supported us through this ordeal and this time, we need prayer to go through what we are going through. This is just the first step and we are just asking God for strength."
Ms. Taylor said she is trying to overlook the tragedy that happened to her nephew so that she could move on.
After viewing her son’s remains, Ms. Smith, Desmond’s mother, said she felt like a burden had been lifted from her.
"It’s over and he will finally go to rest," she said.
She said Desmond always tried to make her feel happy.
"This is how he wants me to be – to be happy. So when I saw him it was like a relief. It is something I cannot really explain but it is a relief," she said.
Rev. Bethel, the families’ spokesperson, said that a burden has indeed been lifted from the hearts of these families.
He said it is a joy that this chapter of their lives has come to an end.
"The next part is to actually put them down in the ground," Rev. Bethel said.
He said some members of the public have asked why the families would want to see the remains – which are just bones.
"You know, when their sons left home, that was the last sight," Rev. Bethel explained.
"They weren’t able to see them when they were also found. They never saw the remains and this is just now the first time that they have an opportunity to see them and this will be the final time because after today during the funeral time, the caskets will not be opened.
"This is it and this is something that they had to go through and I believe that every mother out there, or every parent would want to see the remains, regardless of how it was. This is a joy for them, although at the same time, it is a sad time."
The combined funerals for the missing boys will be held next Saturday at the Church of God of Prophecy on Coral Road.
The Grand Bahama Port Authority is covering funeral expenses.
Families View Boys’ Remains
BY VANESSA C. ROLLE
http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/bdd18c42cb.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/)
The remains of four murdered Grand Bahama boys were laid out Sunday. (Photo/Vanessa C. Rolle)
FREEPORT, Grand Bahama – Five years ago, four young boys walked out of their homes – perhaps to do the things that boys do.
Their families never saw them alive again.
On Sunday, those relatives finally viewed the boys’ remains.
Keith McSweeney, funeral director of Restview Mortuary and Crematorium, and his helpers, wheeled out four royal blue coffins and lined them up on the side of the walls one by one in preparation for the viewing.
Then Mr. McSweeney emerged with the first brown box, decorated with blue and white stripes around the edges, bearing the name Desmond Rolle, 14.
Next he brought out the remains of Deangelo McKenzie, 13, and then Mackinson Colas, 11, and finally, the remains of Junior Reme, 11.
(A fifth boy – Jake Grant – also went missing in 2003, but police said his remains were never found and his case has been treated as a separate matter.)
The bones of the four boys were wrapped in white paper in the decorated brown boxes, sitting on a brown chestnut table, flanked by elegant standing lamps and flowers.
Then the families were led into the viewing area where they sat down in burgundy and gold love seats facing the four boxes.
Rev. Glenroy Bethel, spokesperson for the families of the missing boys, said a prayer and then the relatives of each boy were directed to a box of the boy related to them.
Mr. McSweeney opened the boxes with a box cutter and unfolded the thin sheets of white wrapping paper to reveal the skeletal remains of the missing boys to their families.
There were shrilling cries and shrieks from the mothers, along with Deangelo’s grandmother, Marilyn Davis.
"Oh Lord, look at my child," screamed Charlene Smith, upon viewing the remains of her son, Desmond.
Claudette Mitchell, Mackinson’s mother, had to be held as she wailed over her son’s remains, shaking her head as the tears streamed down her face.
Her cries were guttural and intense.
"I don’t deserve this as a mother," she cried. "I feel bad…terrible. I feel sick."
Amidst tears, wailing and groaning, Ms. Mitchell said, "I don’t deserve that. I only could say thank you Lord. I can see him…even though this isn’t how I want to see him, but I can have some place now to go when I remember him."
Angelie Tima, Junior’s sister, was uncontrollable as she viewed her brother’s remains.
Reporters were told that their mother did not show up for the viewing because she felt it would be too much for her to bear.
Junior’s sister said she was still living in Haiti waiting to join her family in The Bahamas when her brother went missing in 2003.
"We were very, very close," she said.
"He so loved me…oh Lord. Every time he [kept] talking about me. He said ‘Mommy, Mommy when my sister coming to The Bahamas?’
"Every time, my mommy [said], ‘I don’t have [any] money’. But he would say ‘I’m going to work to let my sister come to The Bahamas because I love my sister so much."
Chiddina Taylor, Deangelo’s aunt, said that having viewed his remains, the family can have some kind of closure.
She said she saw Deangelo as a son.
"Although there is closure, it is painful and it is hurting to see him in that form," Ms. Taylor said.
"This is something that we never experienced before and it is something that we would always have to deal with for the rest of our lives…," she said.
"We want to thank the Bahamian people who supported us through this ordeal and this time, we need prayer to go through what we are going through. This is just the first step and we are just asking God for strength."
Ms. Taylor said she is trying to overlook the tragedy that happened to her nephew so that she could move on.
After viewing her son’s remains, Ms. Smith, Desmond’s mother, said she felt like a burden had been lifted from her.
"It’s over and he will finally go to rest," she said.
She said Desmond always tried to make her feel happy.
"This is how he wants me to be – to be happy. So when I saw him it was like a relief. It is something I cannot really explain but it is a relief," she said.
Rev. Bethel, the families’ spokesperson, said that a burden has indeed been lifted from the hearts of these families.
He said it is a joy that this chapter of their lives has come to an end.
"The next part is to actually put them down in the ground," Rev. Bethel said.
He said some members of the public have asked why the families would want to see the remains – which are just bones.
"You know, when their sons left home, that was the last sight," Rev. Bethel explained.
"They weren’t able to see them when they were also found. They never saw the remains and this is just now the first time that they have an opportunity to see them and this will be the final time because after today during the funeral time, the caskets will not be opened.
"This is it and this is something that they had to go through and I believe that every mother out there, or every parent would want to see the remains, regardless of how it was. This is a joy for them, although at the same time, it is a sad time."
The combined funerals for the missing boys will be held next Saturday at the Church of God of Prophecy on Coral Road.
The Grand Bahama Port Authority is covering funeral expenses.