The body of six-year-old Orlando Jaikarran was recovered from a canal near the Bath Settlement sea dam early Tuesday, ending a search that began after he was reported missing on October 14.
Police said the child’s father has confessed to the crime.
Region Five Commander, Senior Superintendent Lonsdale Withrite, told reporters that information received on Monday evening prompted a search of the canal at approximately 8:45 p.m. Orlando’s decomposed body was found around 1 a.m. on Tuesday, among debris on the canal’s northern side.
The discovery followed investigators’ examination of additional surveillance footage and information obtained from the father.
According to the account provided, footage showed the father riding a motorcycle towards the canal with someone who appeared to be Orlando early on the morning the child was reported missing. He was later seen returning without the child.
Investigators had previously obtained footage placing the father and son together elsewhere in Bath Settlement shortly after midnight that day.
Withrite confirmed that the additional recordings helped investigators establish more information about the father’s movements.
“We had some additional footage, so we were able to gather some information from the main suspect in this matter, which is the child’s father,” he said.
However, police have not established whether Orlando was alive when he was taken to the location. Withrite declined to draw a conclusion, saying the investigation remained at an early stage.
Orlando was reported missing from his Bath Settlement home on Wednesday, October 14. His disappearance prompted searches by police and residents, while appeals for information circulated through schools and on social media.
Police had reported on Friday that ranks searched several locations in Bath, including surrounding backlands, without finding the child. At that stage, three people were in custody as enquiries continued.
