Family members of a missing Sophia, Georgetown, man confirmed their worst fears Tuesday morning after his partially decomposed body was fished out a short distance from his home.

Dead, Akeem Culley

The dead man has been identified as Akeem Culley, 25, called Jamal, a miner of North Sophia. The man’s body was discovered in a trench called “Forty Foot” by a resident on the nearby reserved lands.

According to reports, Culley had been missing for about three weeks after four men stormed his house and took him away. He was never seen or heard from so his reputed wife, Kendyce Duncan, lodged a report with the police.

Speaking with Guyana Times the woman stated that she last saw her partner of five months on the night of December 29, 2015. She recalled that around 01:00h, she was woken by calls from her neighbour (also named Akeem) who requested she open the door since he had something to tell her.

The woman said she complied and upon opening the front door, she was confronted by four armed and masked men, all of whom were dressed in black. “I didn’t see (my neighbour), all I see was all these handguns point to my face. So I started to back-up and they just barge in… Akeem was in the bedroom and he get up same time and the men hold on pon he and start pull he outside,” Duncan related.

She went on to say that after the men dragged Culley out of the house, she heard him cry out “ah” and immediately after, two gunshots were fired. “I run out, thinking that he get shoot and lying outside but when I go, I didn’t see he or anybody,” the woman recounted.

Duncan said she reported the incident to the police and ranks on patrol came to the area and they conducted a search but came up empty handed. She added that later that morning, she went to the station and made a formal complaint about the incident. The police was treating the case as an abduction.

However, about a week after, Duncan said persons had informed her that they were getting foul scent from the “Forty Foot” and as such she used to make daily checks to see if they would find anything.

“Now (Tuesday) morning, when I getting ready for work, a man said something raise up in “Forty Foot” and I should go check to see if is Akeem… When I reach there, I recognise the red and white American Eagle boxer on the body because that’s what he had on the night when they take him away so I call the police and we family,” she further related.

According to Duncan, the man’s skull was showing. She added too that his feet bore a gunshot wound while his stomach had a stab wound.

Asked by this newspaper whether Culley had any issues with anyone, Duncan recalled that the Monday before his disappearance, some men from North Sophia had alleged that he along with her brother and brother-in-law stole a motorcycle.

The woman said that at the time Culley was not at home and when she called him, he claimed that he was at his mother. “I tell he don’t come home cause these people gon beat yuh up but he turn and say that he coming, he gotta clear his name because he aint thief no motorbike,” she added.

He went home around midday on December 29. Furthermore, Duncan said over the past few weeks, the police had held several persons for Culley’s disappearance including the owner of the alleged stolen motorcycle and her neighbour, Akeem, both of whom were released due to lack of evidence. She explained that her neighbour said he was forced by the gunmen to get her to open the door on the night in question.