Decomposed body believed to be that of missing man still unidentified

Police have dismissed claims that a body found in a gully at the intersection of Marcus Garvey Drive and Industrial Terrace in Kingston has been confirmed to be that of Kevin Walker, an Allman Town resident who has been missing since last Saturday.

Walker's relatives have been on edge since he left the community to conduct business regarding a rental car around 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning.

They said that despite repeated telephone calls, he has not been heard from since, and $800,000 has been withdrawn from his bank account.

Their anxiety reached a peak on Monday when an unidentified body was found in a barrel in a gully at the intersection of Marcus Garvey Drive and Industrial Terrace.

Police initially theorised that the body could be that of Walker but said it was too decomposed to confirm.

"We are awaiting a post-mortem to determine identity. Nothing has been confirmed. The state of the body is such that we can't determine many things about it. So that is why we are trying to arrange the post-mortem," said Assistant Commissioner of Police Michael Phipps on Friday.

"The truth is, we got a relative [of Walker] to come and look, but the state of decomposition wasn't helpful. So we are not sure. We will have to rely on DNA at the end of the day regarding identity," continued Phipps, adding that detectives are "making some leads" in the investigation into Walker's disappearance.

Earlier this week, Walker's parents, Roy and Indiana Edwards, cried openly as they spoke about their last moments with their son, whom they regarded as a peaceful entrepreneur.

He was also a Digicel employee, they said, noting that the withdrawal of a large sum of cash from his bank account after his disappearance was ominous.

"It's a hard pill to swallow," Edwards said, breaking into tears.

"Kevin is a nice son. Saturday him come and say him ago rent the car… then him come and say to me, 'Mommy, the guy come for the car so mi a go home now, cause me a go do some business.' Mi say, 'Alright, Kevin, me will see you tomorrow (Sunday) morning.’

"I left and go market, come back and inside reading the Friday Star, and his father come and tell mi say his baby mother can't get him from 1 o'clock," Edwards recounted, noting that her son is no stranger to the Allman Town community.

"Me just want him... If dem kill him, mi will bury him. Look how Kevin good to people!"

- Corey Robinson

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