The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

MORE than two years after Marvin and Aynalel Deveaux reported that $9,000 disappeared after a police search of their Marathon Estates home, Mr Deveaux has died without learning the outcome of the investigation or what became of money his widow says was meant to help fund medical treatment in Turkey.

Aynalel Deveaux said her husband died in the early morning hours last Thursday after years of health challenges, including kidney disease that required dialysis for about 20 years.

Mrs Deveaux, 51, said her husband would have turned 61 on July 2.

She said the alleged disappearance of the money destroyed the couple’s plans for overseas treatment and left him emotionally broken in the final months of his life.

"My husband told me, 'Anna, I can't fight these people no more. My heart already broke. I don't have energy," Mrs Deveaux said, recalling her husband's mindset during his final days. "He told me 'Today I die, or I die tomorrow, I don't know how you will bury me because you don't have money'. Three days later, he died in my hands."

Mrs Deveaux said her husband had breathing difficulties in the hours before his death. She alleged that emergency assistance did not arrive until about an hour after she sought help around 5.20am, and that he had already died by the time responders arrived.

The Tribune first reported in May 2024 that the couple alleged $9,000 went missing from their home after police officers searched the property while looking for drugs and firearms.

Mrs Deveaux said at the time that the money had been set aside for a medical trip to Turkey, where her husband hoped to undergo surgery for his back and later for his kidney, with Mrs Deveaux donating one of her own.

She alleged that officers arrived at the couple’s home with a warrant before eventually entering a locked bedroom belonging to her late mother-in-law, where the cash was stored.

Mrs Deveaux said she accompanied officers during the search because her husband had difficulty walking. She claimed officers acknowledged the money during the search and placed the bag back before searching another area.

However, when Mrs Deveaux went to close the bedroom door, she said an officer stopped her, told her the search had not been completed and instructed her to return to her own bedroom.

She alleged that officers remained in the room and that when she later checked the area after police left, the cash was missing. She said officers acknowledged they had entered the wrong home.

The couple said they reported the missing money to police that same day.

When The Tribune asked then-Deputy Commissioner of Police Leamond Deleveaux about the investigation, he said the public would be informed of the findings once the probe was complete.

By July 2025, more than a year after the complaint was filed, the Deveauxs said they still had not received answers.

Mrs Deveaux said then that the uncertainty was taking a severe emotional and financial toll as she struggled to balance work, legal expenses and her husband’s medical needs.

Commissioner of Police Shanta Knowles, when asked where the investigation stands today, told The Tribune she would check with the complaints unit about the status of the matter. Up to press time, no further update had been provided.

Mrs Deveaux said the couple continued seeking updates in the months that followed, but never received what they considered a satisfactory explanation before her husband’s death.

She said the lack of closure became a source of growing frustration as his health deteriorated.

Mrs Deveaux said funeral arrangements are still being finalised and financial constraints have forced her to consider cremation rather than a larger funeral.

She said she has struggled to cover funeral expenses and has largely relied on friends and coworkers for assistance.

Mrs Deveaux also expressed disappointment that politicians who previously reached out when they first heard about her husband’s predicament have gone silent.

"Election time, people come asking me what's happened, what's going on," she recalled. "Now, you can't find them. You have to make an appointment if you want to speak to them."

Mrs Deveaux said the ordeal has left her deeply disillusioned with life in The Bahamas, arguing that she felt abandoned by authorities and public officials while trying to care for her husband and pursue accountability for the missing money.

"This country broke my heart," she said. "Nobody came and asked what happened or what we needed."

She said the experience has contributed to her decision to eventually leave the country.

"How can you stay here when you lose your husband and nobody helps you?" she questioned.

Mrs Deveaux said her husband’s fate may have been different had the couple been able to continue with plans for treatment in Turkey.

"He was happy because he thought he was going to Turkey," Mrs Deveaux said. "He told everbody 'I'm going to fix my kidney and come back nowmal. After the money was gone, everything changed."

While there is no way to know whether the treatment would have changed the outcome, Mrs Deveaux believes her husband would have had a better chance.

She said the missing money represented more than a financial loss to her family.

"The people didn't take money," she said. "The people took my husband's life."

Mrs Deveaux said members of the public who wish to assist with funeral expenses may contact her directly at 431-5105.