The Guyana Police Force is investigating the circumstances which led to the disappearance of a Canadian citizen who was staying with relatives at their Number 69 Village home in Berbice.
Nicholas Ramkissoon Jaipaul, 23, has been in Guyana since March. He was slated to return home in May but was unable to do so due to the closure of the borders amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Canadian national was staying with his grandfather, also named Ramkissoon Jaipaul who said he realised that his grandson was missing on Monday morning.
According to the 86-year-old man, he and his grandson retired to bed on Sunday night but due to the countrywide power outage, he woke up to light two lamps.
The elderly man said he gave one of the lamps to his grandson and returned to bed. He said that was the last time he saw the young man.
It was the following morning when he woke that he noticed that his grandson disappeared.
The elderly man said he received a phone call that same morning, where the caller claimed that he has kidnapped his grandson and demanded ransom.
The grandfather explained that the young man was slated to visit his other grandfather on Monday and that his bags were already packed for the trip. Upon checking, the bags were still at the house.
Regional Commander Calvin Brutus said the police are not treating the case as a kidnapping even though the family strongly believes the Canadian national was abducted.
“We did receive a call and the person is alleging that there was a kidnapping. But what we have so far caused us to classify it as a missing person. You need to have a ransom as proof that they are being held against their will. We have not been able to verify that. There is a claim that some call was made but it is not verified. We have been in contact with the Major Crime Unit,” the Commander said.
He also noted there that there was no sign of forced entry and all of Nicholas personal belongings are intact.
“It is only his personal phone which is not there but we have not had any calls or received any information of a request for a ransom and it is over thirty hours,” he told this publication on Tuesday.
