The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY General Wayne Munroe said the absence of Katrina Kelly’s body does not prevent prosecutors from pursuing a murder case, saying a death can be proved through circumstantial evidence.

His comments come after two men and a woman were charged with murdering the 34-year-old Eleuthera mother, whose remains have not been recovered since she disappeared on August 14.

Mr Munroe said courts in the United Kingdom and United States have convicted people of murder in cases where a victim’s body was never found.

“You can prove a death by circumstantial means,” he said, “and I would expect that is why the police would’ve levied the charge because in their view they have sufficient circumstances to warrant it.”

Mr Munroe said convictions without the recovery of a body are not unprecedented, pointing to cases dating back decades in the United Kingdom and others in the United States.

“If you are referring to the concept of somebody being able to be convicted without a body ever being found,” he said, “that happens as far back as the 1950’s in the UK.”

Ms Kelly, a mother of two, disappeared from her home in Bluff, Eleuthera.

Her 11-year-old daughter previously told The Tribune that her mother said she was going to drop off friends and pick up food. The child said she later saw three dark figures get out of a vehicle and speak with her mother before Ms Kelly left with them.

Two men, ages 31 and 34, and a 43-year-old woman were charged on Friday with murder, damage to property and compounding a crime following the investigation into her disappearance.

The charges marked a devastating turn for relatives who had hoped Ms Kelly would be found alive after an extensive search involving police, volunteers and divers. Rewards totalling more than $52,000 were offered for information that could help locate her.

Her uncle, Keith Kelly, said the family was “heartbroken” and struggling to comprehend how quickly the search for a missing relative had become a murder investigation.

Mr Kelly said the family was particularly concerned about Ms Kelly’s two children. He said her mother had also been struggling with the latest developments but was drawing strength from prayer.

He praised investigators, including officers who travelled from New Providence to assist with the search, but said he believed some information provided during the investigation could have been acted upon more quickly.

The family also had to contend with false reports and voice notes circulating on social media claiming Ms Kelly’s body had been found. Mr Kelly said relatives refused to accept such claims unless the information came directly from police.

He said the case had also shaken the wider Eleuthera community, particularly because the people accused were known in the community.

Ms Kelly worked as an assistant manager at Pink Sands Hotel and also operated a car rental business.

Her disappearance and the murder charges come less than a year after her family suffered another violent loss.

Ms Kelly’s 23-year-old brother, Ashantio “Clevorn” Johnson, a trainee Bahamas Department of Correctional Services officer, was fatally stabbed during an altercation at Blu Ice Restaurant and Bar in November 2025.

Mr Kelly said the family continues to pray that Ms Kelly’s remains will be recovered so they can bring her home.