Business as usual on Charlotte Street

IAM and company remained closed, following the discovery of the body of missing bank clerk, Shannon Banfield, in a storage unit just above the store on Thursday.

As they went about their business, pedestrians along the street offered curious glances at the caution tape around the doors of the store, while police officers maintained a visible presence at the scene.

Newsday spoke to Donna Charles, a roadside vendor and Port-of- Spain resident, who said that while the crowds may have returned, the scent of death and a sense of unease lingers among merchants and shoppers.

“That wasn’t a nice thing at all,” Charles said.

“As a mother of two daughters and just as a person, it really churned my stomach to find out what happened to that girl. I’ve been working as a vendor in Port-of- Spain for about 20 years now and I have never seen anything like this. I came out here this morn ng and you can still smell the body around the store.

When I came out this morning to set up my stall I saw the police in front the store.” Charles added that on the afternoon of the discovery, she too had complained of a foul scent to the other vendors, but did not know which direction it was coming from. “I remember asking the other vendors around me, what was the smell. We all are accustomed to the smell of garbage and rotting vegetables, but this was something different. It was only after my son came down the road told me that they found a body inside the store, I really felt it in my heart.” Businessman, Steve Matthews, said that he was taking inventory in his stock room when he learned of the find and described the entire incident as “disgusting”.

“No one saw this coming,” Matthews said.

“Of all the places you would find a dead body, you wouldn’t think that it would be here on Charlotte Street. With all that’s going on, how can you protect your children again? It’s sad.” Matthews said that he also noticed a foul scent on entering his businessplace on Tuesday morning, but could not recall seeing anything suspicious around the building.

Banfield, 20, of Santa Cruz was employed as a Customer Service Representative at Republic Bank, Independence Square, Port-of-Spain branch.

She was reported missing when she did not return home from work on Monday afternoon.

Banfield’s mother, Sherry-Ann Lopez, said that she spoke to her daughter when she left work and said that she was going to Pennywise cosmetics store and then to IAM and company.

On Thursday a security guard at the store discovered Banfield’s decomposing body beneath a pile of boxes in the storage room upstairs the store, while investigating the cause of a foul stench.