Inconclusive evidence prevents two families from burying their loved ones

Police say inconclusive evidence is preventing the bodies of Jerome Potter and Ozandee Benjamin from being flown back to Antigua and Barbuda from St Martin. The spokesman for the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda, Inspector Frankie Thomas, told OBSERVER media that autopsies were conducted on both men recently, but for some reason the evidence gathering process has not yet been concluded. “Based on the information we have received so far, the autopsies would have already been conducted, but it is inconclusive, so this means their bodies will remain there until investigations are complete,” he said.
Thomas did not disclose why, after almost a month since the men’s bodies were fished out of a pond on the neighbouring island, the manner in which they died remains unclear. All he said was, “We are in contact with the authorities there.” On November 13, the bodies of Potter and Benjamin were found on the French side of the island at different times of the day. The police reported that Potter’s body was found floating in the water around 9:30 a.m., while Benjamin’s was found hours later.
St. Martin News Network reported that around 10:30 a.m. on that day, Gendarmes were called to Lucas Bay Oyster Pond when a passer-by noticed a body floating in the water. At the time, Colonel Sebastien Manzoni said that the person, a male of probably Caribbean or Antillean descent, may have died from drowning.