NURSE MURDERED

A team of officers from the Homicide Bureau, Sipraia CID and South Western Task Force, led by ASP Sampat and ASP Rodriguez, unearthed the nurse’s body at about 5pm after a male relative confessed to killing and burying her. He had been in police custody since Thursday.

The relative told the police where to find the two feet deep grave, a mile from the Palo Seco Oil Field Road, which is adjacent to the Palo Seco Government Secondary School. Unconfirmed reports indicate the woman’s throat was slit.

Officers said her body was decomposing and her face was unrecognisable. She was not dressed in nurse’s uniform as first reported.

Members of Campbell family were in a state of shock last evening. The nurse’s brother Desmond Campbell said the family were grateful the police had found her.

Her father, David, said, “I thank God for giving me my daughter for 28 years and now I have closure. We prayed and asked God to reveal where her body was and hours later her body was found.”

On Monday, Campbell-Dean disappeared without a trace. Investigators believe she left her home at Syne Trace, Syne Village, Siparia for work at the Siparia District Health Facility where she has been a nurse for the past 13 months. She never arrived at the health facility. Her relatives said Campbell-Dean was scheduled to work the 6 am to 2 pm shift. Her colleagues told investigators they never received calls from her indicating that she would not be in for the day.

Since Monday, all calls to Campbell-Dean’s cell phone have gone unanswered. Friends and relatives said they had not seen nor heard from her.

On Tuesday morning, her husband Andy Dean filed a missing person’s report at the Siparia Police Station.

Hours before the discovery of her body, relatives were interviewed at the home of Campbell-Dean’s parents at Chambersville, Palo Seco.

The dead woman’s sister Michelle said yesterday it normally took Campbell-Dean five minutes to get from her home to the health facility which is located next to the Siparia CID office. Campbell-Dean who got married three years ago, had been a nurse seven years. She was the daughter of retired police inspector David Campbell and his wife Joyce.

Michelle said Campbell-Dean and her husband, Andy, had a daily routine. He would drop her off to the health facility in Siparia and then take their children, Emily, two, and Keshaun, one, to a baby sitter in Palo Seco.

However, on Monday, Campbell-Dean did not leave with her husband as she was not ready on time. He took the children to the sitter as usual. That morning was the last time he saw Campbell-Dean who did not report to the health facility.Her relatives said she last visited them on Sunday night when she stopped by her parents home after attending the Palo Seco games at the nearby velodrome.

Michelle said, “Trichelle was at the games on Sunday and everyone saw her there among a group of friends. Around 8.15 pm, she dropped in here before going home and made arrangements for Andy to pick her up from here.” Describing the family as “a close knit one”, Michelle said she was in the bathroom at the time Campbell-Dean briefly stopped by and did not speak to her.

She said, “I know she was speaking to my mother, I don’t know what the conversation was about. She don’t make joke with food and so she packed a bowl and left saying to me that she will call me later.”

On Tuesday morning, at about 5.45 am, Andy telephoned Michelle and said Campbell- Dean was missing.

Desmond, a brother, said Campbell-Dean was a responsible parent and wife who never showed signs that she would abandon her family.

In the earlier interview, Desmond said, “We are seeking answers because there is nothing to suggest anything that anyone would want to kill her. She never complained of anything for there to be a concern. We are close and a day never goes by without us talking to each other and she would have said something.”

Before the news broke about Campbell-Dean’s death, it was reported that her colleagues at the health facility were traumatised by her disappearance. A colleague said, “It has not been easy for us because she is very close to all of us. She is such a good person and we are traumatised by what has happened. The mood right now is sombre in here. We have asked to be counselled and arrangements are being made at this time.” An autopsy may be performed on Campbell-Dean’s body over the long holiday weekend before police proceeds with charges against the relative who remains in custody.