The Guyana Police Force has taken umbrage at statements made by former Assistant Commissioner Paul Slowe, who sought to discredit the final post-mortem report of the three internationally renowned pathologists to investigators.
Slowe, in an article in today’s Kaieteur News, criticised the credibility of the GPF’s final autopsy report on the death of 11-year-old Adrianna Younge, calling it “the biggest cover-up in the recent history of the Guyana Police Force.”
According to police in a statement, Slowe’s comments are misguided, ill-informed, and seemingly calculated.
The Police Force, in a release on Tuesday, said the pathologists who conducted the autopsy, in their final report, indicated that there were no signs of foul play in the drowning of Adrianna Younge.
The certified findings from the autopsy, the police said, confirmed that Adrianna’s death was consistent with drowning, and no evidence of trauma, assault, or any other criminal activity was found.
Kaieteur News reported that Slowe “strongly disagreed” with the conclusions and timing of the report from the three international pathologists: Dr Shubhakar Karra Paul (Barbados), Dr Gary Collins (Delaware, USA), and Dr Glenn Rudner (Mount Sinai Hospital, USA).
According to Slowe, key pieces of evidence suggest that Adrianna did not drown in the pool where her body was found.
“Persons like Slowe, Clinton Conway, et al, have the unbridled freedom and luxury to jump on social media platforms and spew whatever misinformation or agenda they have, many times on matters that are beyond their realm of professional expertise, much less comprehension.
“On the other hand, the Guyana Police Force — now in its 184th year — does not insinuate or speculate; the GPF deals strictly with facts, evidence and expert/professional opinions,” the release said.
Upon learning of the incident, the Guyana Police Force noted that it launched a thorough investigation into the matter. The child’s family raised several concerns, citing her ability to swim and alleging the possibility of sexual assault, forced drowning elsewhere, and ritualistic activity. These concerns were taken seriously and fully explored in collaboration with forensic experts.
“Also, with regards to the final PME report, there is absolutely ‘no coverup’ by the Police Force, as erroneously insinuated by Paul Slowe. How could Slowe accuse the GPF of a cover-up when the release was merely stating the findings of the three pathologists? Has the definition of cover-up escaped his mind? For the record, we would like to reiterate the key findings of the comprehensive post-mortem examination, including toxicology and DNA testing,” the release said.
These include: there were no signs of acute injury or trauma present; toxicology results showed ethanol levels consistent with post-mortem decomposition; the sexual assault kit and DNA analysis for potential suspects were negative; skin and airway changes were in line with prolonged submersion and drowning; and there was no evidence of restraint, struggle, removal, and return of the body.
The pathologists concluded that Adriana Younge drowned, likely sank to the bottom of the pool, and later surfaced due to natural decomposition processes common in tropical climates.
These findings support an earlier report submitted by Leonard McCoshan (retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigator) who concluded that there is “𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.”
