The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Staff Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

ASSISTANT Commissioner of Police Shanta Knowles is set to become commissioner amid heightened scrutiny of the Royal Bahamas Police Force –– and as a Grand Bahama death investigation raised unconfirmed allegations of police misconduct.

Free National Movement leader Michael Pintard appeared to reference the case last week, saying: “We have some controversies in Grand Bahama where officers’ names have been called in some very suspicious circumstances. There is a mother right now that is in Hudson Estates who is still waiting on the system to give word on whether or not her child is alive or dead. These are very serious matters, and we expect that the system ought to work and work effectively and answer the call of grieving family members.”

On September 12, burned human remains were discovered in a vehicle destroyed by fire in bushes off the Grand Bahama Highway in East Grand Bahama. Police had released a missing person’s flyer for Elkino Miller on September 5, just two weeks before the gruesome discovery. Mr Miller, 49, of Gold Coin Lane, was last seen on September 3. He is described as six feet tall, medium-built, weighing 230 pounds, with dark brown hair and a dark brown complexion.

Yesterday, ACP Knowles, the officer in charge of Grand Bahama, reiterated that DNA samples from the burned body have been sent to US partners but that the results had not been returned.

Voice notes purporting to capture a tense conversation between Miller and a man circulated after the burned body was found. Sylvens Metayer, a man who claims to be a whistleblower, made unconfirmed allegations and showed alleged WhatsApp message connected to it in September, weeks after appearing to release voice notes that purported to capture a quid-quo-pro arrangement involving a senior Central Investigation Department officer and gang members related to a $1.5m bank security car robbery last year.