Forensic experts arrive in T’di

A team of forensic experts and crime scene investigators from the Police Headquarters in Accra arrived in Sekondi/Takoradi yesterday as part of the process to unravel the mystery surrounding the three missing girls from Takoradi.

The arrival of the team came three days after human skeletons were discovered near the house in which the principal suspect in the case, Samuel Udoetuk Willis, lived.

A police source told the Daily Graphic that the arrival of the team showed the importance and urgency the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr James Oppong Boanuh, and the entire Police Administration attached to the girls’ matter.

On arrival, the forensic experts and crime scene investigators held a briefing session with the Western Regional Police Command.

According to the source, the team would examine the crime scene, including the cesspit in which the bones were found, as well as the immediate surroundings of the house, after which they would analyse their findings.
Later, they would meet with the families of the three girls and request items needed for the investigations, it said.

“They will, among others things, request self-replicating materials with fundamental and distinctive characteristics or qualities of a member of the family for the deoxyribonucleic acid process, known as the DNA test,” the source said.

Police clarification

As the police experts set out to undertake their work, the Police Administration yesterday issued a statement that sought to clarify some of the issues surrounding the discovery of the human bones.

The statement, signed by the Director-General in charge of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, said: “The discovery was as a result of ongoing efforts at examining several angles of the investigation.”

“Claims that a confession or tip-off led to the discovery are untrue. Families of the three missing ladies in Takoradi were on Saturday engaged to assist with DNA samples as part of the investigation,” it added.

It said the families were cooperating with the police in that respect .

“The Police Administration will continue with other angles of the investigation, while it expects to conclude DNA tests within the next four weeks,” the statement said.

Ownership of property

The police have declared the house in which Wills lived a crime scene.

The Daily Graphic gathered that the house was built by a man who later sold it to a new owner who currently lives in Tarkwa.
Tenants declined comment on the identities of both the former and the present owners of the property.

Unanswered questions

Distraught family members of the missing girls who spoke with the Daily Graphic held a common position: they were ready to help find a solution to the disappearance of the girls.

They, however, wanted the police and the government to clear the doubts about the discovery of the skeletons.

They were of the view that the police, especially the Director of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Commissioner of Police (COP)

Mrs Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, and some ministers of state had a lot of unanswered questions to answer.

The families said they wanted independent experts to go into the case.

Mr Alexander Koranchie, the father of Priscilla Mantebea Koranchie, one of the missing girls, told the Daily Graphic that his family did not have any issue about getting to the root of the matter..

“But there are many questions that need to be cleared by the police before we avail ourselves of anything. We need to get the police to tell us why, in the past, they claimed they knew the whereabouts of the girls and why they have turned to something else now,” he said.

“So now how different will it be if the police come today to say the bones are those of our children or not?” he asked.

Meet and discuss

The Bentum Family also expressed its readiness to meet with the police to discuss and look into their demands.

Mr Fancis Ackon Bentum, the father of Priscilla Blessing Bentum, one of the missing girls, said his family would not want to say much.

“The family will be watching the next line of action and also put our demands across, all in the quest to find the girls. We will wait for the police to come and tell us what they want and what they think we should do and we will take a decision as a family,” he said.

Mr Amos Kojo Obeng Tawia, an uncle of Ruth Love Quayson’s, said: “We are willing to help the investigators and prepare for the outcome. However, we want the police to come and clear the dark clouds around the kidnapping.”

He explained that comments by the CID boss that the children were alive, the President’s assurance that the security agencies were not sleeping on the matter and various promises by some ministers of state and security chiefs, all pointing to the assurance that the girls were alive, should not be swept under the carpet.

He said all that the families were hoping for was that the girls would be found alive.

Background

Priscilla Blessing Bentum, 21, a third-year student of the University of Education, Winneba, was abducted at Kansaworodo on August 17, 2018; Ruth Love Quayson, 18, a senior high school (SHS) graduate, was allegedly kidnapped at the Butumegyabu Junction on December 4, 2018, while Priscilla Mantebea Koranchie, 15, a student of the Sekondi College (SEKCO), was kidnapped near the Nkroful Junction in Takoradi on December 21, 2018.

Last Friday evening, the police announced the discovery of some skeletons in a cesspit tank near a house at Kansaworodo in Takoradi.
The uncompleted building was previously occupied by Willis.

The police, in a statement signed by the Head of the Public Affairs Unit of the CID, Deputy Superintendent (DSP) of Police Juliana Obeng, said:

“The discovered human remains will be sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory of the Ghana Police Service for analysis and further investigation.”