He was a man who loved life. He tended to his vegetable crops daily with loving care because they put food on his table and provided the income he needed to meet his daily needs and “have a lime with his friends.” But on March 18, Bobbie Francis, AKA Dragon, went missing.
His distraught sister, Lucyann Joseph, sought help from Crimewatch host Ian Alleyne to find her brother. She said her brother had $30,000 in cash on him on the day he left home. He was seen liming with a man whom he knew at the Valencia Bar on March 17 and March 18, but after that he just disappeared.
His body was found ten days later by a passer-by who said he picked up a foul stench while walking along Paria Road, Blanchisseuse. The man told investigators that he saw a body stuck in a tree over a precipice. An autopsy showed that Francis was strangled to death. But his sister says she wants closure. She wants the police to find her brother’s killer or killers. She also wants to know what happened to the money her brother had on him when he left home. She says she checked with the bank and her brother made no deposit.
Investigations into the murder are continuing. And imagine paying for a Range Rover and being unable to get it after two years. That’s the situation which Rishi Oulass finds himself in. Rishi told Alleyne that he paid Neil Sharma in 2012 for a Range Rover, but to this day he has been unable to get the car.
Sharma, who appeared on the set alongside Rishi, defended himself, though, telling Alleyne he in turn paid Rishi, a mechanic, $3,500 to fix his Volvo motorcar. However, he said eight months later he has been unable to get back his vehicle.
Sharma insisted that Rishi will get his Range Rover when he “fix meh car and return it.” But the problem with that, according to Rishi, is that Sharma changed the engine of the Volvo from turbo to non-turbo. He said he advised Sharma that he needs to get an electrician to re-programme the vehicle. But Sharma insisted that Rishi is “talking rubbish.” He said unless his Volvo is fixed, Rishi will not be getting his Range Rover anytime soon.
UNSOLVED
Priya Maharaj, alias Dolly, of Bholai Trace, East Chase Village, Chaguanas, left home on March 25 and is yet to return. Her father, Premanand Maharaj, believes she is with someone by the name of Kerron Sahadeo, alias Din Din. It is alleged that the pair are in Tobago. Candice Westfield, of Barataria, claims she paid Marlene Angeli, of St Joseph, over $20,000 for a Carnival costume in August 2013. She never got the costume and has been unable to find Angeli.
CRIMEWATCH SUCCESS
The Office of the Prime Minister agreed to assist Oba Thomas, of Picton, Laventille, after he and his seven children, aged three to 14 years, appeared on Crimewatch. Thomas told Alleyne his wife left him and their children on Carnival Friday and has not returned home. The children admitted to missing their mother, 30-year-old Shilana Broomes, and want her to return home. The Office of the PM contacted Alleyne during the show to say they will render assistance to Thomas and his children.
Daniel Wallen, of Barataria, had told Alleyne his professional BMC SLX Racer Bike, valued at US$4,000, was stolen when he went to a popular Maraval mall on March 23. Alleyne showed video footage of the man who stole the bike. Two days later the bike was found and was taken to the St Joseph Police Station. Wallen thanked Alleyne for his intervention, saying without him his bike would have been returned. According to Wallen, “that is performance.”
And Adesh Rampersad also thanked Alleyne after he recovered $35,000 from Neil Sharma, AKA Sugars, for a blue Primera which Sharma owed him for the vehicle. The cheque payment was made one day after Rampersad appeared on Crimewatch.