Family of dead soldier in limbo due to DNA results issue

The misspelling of a name on a document is the reason why the police are not releasing to the family the body of a soldier whose remains were found burnt in his van at Yeptons nearly seven months ago.
This is still the case more than a month after a DNA test reportedly confirmed that the remains are that of Ashon Martin.
On February 3, OBSERVER media reported, based on information from a police source not authorised to speak, that the burnt body found at Yeptons, was indeed that of the Bendals resident.
This was the finding of tests done at a forensics lab in Jamaica.
New information from two separate police sources, is that Martin’s name was misspelt on the documents from the lab, so no death certificate could be written by the pathologist here in Antigua.
When asked about the matter, the Commissioner of Police, Wendel Robinson, told OBSERVER media yesterday, “I believed it is finally issued. I am not sure if it arrived in Antigua as yet.”
March 11 will make eight months since police on patrol found Martin’s burnt body in his white van.
His father, Wayne Martin, told OBSERVER media yesterday that he is disappointed with how the police are handling the case, as he awaits his son’s body to be released.
“I am disappointed with how the police are handling the situation knowing that it is one of their own. He is a soldier, he normally patrols with the police and the family needs closure,” he said.
He added that the attorney general has not reached out to the family but said the police have spoken with him a few times.
(More in today’s Daily Observer)