The decomposed and badly burnt bodies of three males and one female, presumed to be Haitian nationals, were found on Anguilla Cay in the Cay Sal Bank near the coast of Cuba Thursday morning.
According to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) Lieutenant Commander Raymond King, the bodies were burnt on the Cay some two weeks ago.
“We assisted the Royal Bahamas Police Force in a joint search and recovery effort,” he said.
“Within minutes we were able to locate the bodies based on the odour that was being emitted. The police then conducted their crime management and investigations and the bodies were brought on board.”
Lieutenant King added that foul play is suspected as tires were visibly used to aid in burning the bodies.
While on the scene our news team watched as four bagged bodies were offloaded from the RBDF’s HMBS, hoisted onto stretchers and loaded into two hearses.
It was also a rather morbid scene for a few tourists who watched from a Disney cruise ship that was docked in the harbour.
Local fisherman reportedly first spotted the bodies back on March 21 and contacted officials.
Last Monday, Defence Force Commodore Roderick Bowe confirmed that the bodies were on Anguilla Cay, but when Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade was questioned on the matter during a press briefing he gave no confirmation to the reported incident.
“There is absolutely no contradiction about bodies being found, reports come to the police department and when they arrived at our attention we do the due diligence in terms of following up,” he said.
“When the commissioner is satisfied that we have anything to report to you in respect to dead bodies we will let you know.”
Lieutenant King said while recovery efforts would have been done earlier the RBDF had to deal logistical issues.
Police are actively investigating the matter.