Mother convinced son among burnt bodies found

Shocked and disturbed best describe the feelings being experienced by Carol Cochrane right now.

Cochrane is the mother of Kimani Taylor, a security guard who is believed to be one of three burnt bodies found in St Thomas on Sunday.

The other two are suspected to be his babymother, Lexton Clayton, a private of the Jamaica Defence Force, and their two-year-old son Tyler.

Though forensic tests have not confirmed the identities of the deceased, Cochrane and other members of Taylor's family are convinced the trio met a tragic end.

The distraught mother tried valiantly to maintain her cool and composure, while fighting to hold back the tears yesterday while speaking to THE STAR in her home town of Cornwall Barracks in the Rio Grande Valley of East Portland.

She recalled that she last saw her son last Saturday, when he indicated that he was going to meet Clayton, and also to go shopping.

It was unlike him

"After not hearing from him, I decided to give him a call," she said. "His phone rang unanswered and after several attempts, I basically gave up. I was a bit concerned though, as it was unlike him not call. It was about 9 p.m. that night that I got a call from the police saying that they found the car that he had rented abandoned in St Thomas. But there was no trace of anyone else."

Cochrane said that she became worried, but still did not think anything bad had taken place.

"But it was when a friend telephoned me afterwards and said something happened, and was not willing to tell me because that was the work of the police. I became angry. I pleaded with the person, and I was told that three burnt bodies were found at a location in St Thomas," she said.

Cochrane explained that she still had doubts about the discovery of the bodies. But she said that her first nightmare was realised when the police arrived.

"They came to my house on Sunday, took statements and also swabbed my mouth for DNA," she said.

The burnt remains were discovered in an area known as Pear Tree River. The police have indicated that a length of rope was found inside the rented vehicle.

Meantime, Taylor's grandmother, Alice McGregor, told THE STAR that the entire family has been shaken by the incident.

"It is like a nightmare to us and we don't even know when we are going to recover from this. I am shocked and I feel it especially for the baby boy (Tyler), who was so full of energy," said McGregor.