The Bahamian High Commissioner in London Ellison Greenslade has reported that he and officials from the High Commission have “made good progress” in the investigations into the deaths of two Bahamian young men whose bodies were found in a lake in Turin, Italy.
In a report from Italy yesterday, Mr Greenslade said he and his delegation were warmly received with a great measure of courtesy and respect by Italian authorities. He was accompanied by Colin and Christopher Wright and Brittany John relatives of the two who positively identified the bodies of Foreign Service Officer Alrae Ramsey and of Psychology PhD. Student, Blair Rashad Randy John.
The High Commissioner said that external autopsies on both have been completed and reports will be received soon. Mr. Greenslade added that full autopsies will be received later
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement saidthat the High Commissioner was dispatched to Italy to make further inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the two young men. Mr. Greenslade arrived in Italy on Saturday June 9th.
The statement further notes that Foreign Affairs Minister Darren Henfield has also spoken with the Deputy Foreign Minister of Italy in relation to the investigation; as well as the possible timeline in relation to the bodies of both young men being returned home for burial.
Meantime, the Minister has been in constant contact with the families of both men, pertaining to his ministry’s role in the investigation.
Mr. Ramsey was employed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since December 9, 2013.
Formerly, he was posted at the Bahamas embassy in Port-Au–Prince, Haiti as third secretary/vice-consul in 2016-2017.
In 2018 he was granted an in-service award to pursue a one-year postgraduate diploma program in diplomacy/international relations and languages at the diplomatic academy of Vienna in Austria for the period September 2018 to June 2019.
Mr. John, a St. Augustine’s College graduate of the class of 2009, was near completion of his PhD. in psychology at Saint Mary’s University in Nova Scotia, Canada.
He traveled to Turin to make a psychology conference presentation on behalf of the university.
The ministry of Foreign Affairs assures that it will keep the public updated as details of the investigation continue to unfold and is asking the public to join in praying for the families, in the wake of such tragedy.
