Relatives of Eden Nekeisha Teesdale, whose headless corpse was found stuffed in a barrel near the Mitan River in Manzanilla, believe her gruesome murder could have been a crime of passion.
Teesdale, 26, of Embacadere, San Fernando, leaves behind three children—Amya Teesdale, aged five; Cmya Ash, aged three; and one-year-old Hezekiah Teesdale.
Describing Teesdale as “wild and beautiful,” cousin Aneesa Williams said they were dumbfounded when they got the news that she had been brutally hacked to death.
“Who could be so heartless? What she do so that somebody would chop her up and stuff her down a barrel?” Williams cried after police informed the family that the body had been identified using fingerprints.
Teesdale had been employed as a cleaner at the Mt Hope Hospital.
She added that a week ago, Teesdale dropped off Hezekiah at the home of her aunt, Erica Williams, who had legal custody of Amya. Erica said she tried to call Teesdale on several occasions over the past few days but her phone was switched off.
“We heard on the news that a woman’s body was found with a tattoo Leo and we knew she had that tattoo but we never expected that it would be her,” Erica said.
She added that Teesdale was very attached to her son.
The second daughter lived with her father in Sangre Grande and had little contact with the family, Erica said.
Teesdale’s brother Keron said he was never close with his sister and did not know her whereabouts.
“She used to stay out all night and come back in the morning. She never told me anything about her life and I never told her anything about mine. She never talked to me about her problems,” Keron said.
Up to late yesterday, police were still searching the river for Teesdale’s head.
A statement from the police service said the remains of the body were identified through fingerprints obtained when Teesdale applied for a certificate of good character on July 21, 2012.
The dismembered body was found last Tuesday by a fisherman who saw a foot protruding from a barrel.
An autopsy will be done on the corpse at the Forensic Science Centre on Monday.
Homicide officers are continuing investigations.