The government of Antigua and Barbuda has announced plans to bolster law enforcement’s investigative capabilities by introducing cadaver dogs trained to locate bodies and detect DNA evidence. This measure comes in the wake of the tragic murder of nine-year-old Chantel Crump, whose body was discovered in a bushy area in Weatherills early Saturday morning.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne, addressing the nation, vowed that his administration would not rest until justice is served. “We will stamp out this evil that has befallen our country before it spreads any further,” he declared, emphasizing the need for enhanced investigative tools to combat violent crimes.
“Not only will we bolster the investigative power of the Police, but we will also enhance their capacity by providing cadaver dogs trained to find bodies and to detect DNA traces of those involved in killings.”
Cadaver dogs, also known as human remains detection (HRD) dogs, are specially trained canines used by law enforcement and search-and-rescue teams to locate deceased individuals. These dogs are trained to detect the scent of human decomposition, including bodies, bones, blood, and other biological remains, even in challenging environments like water, rubble, or buried locations.
- They use their acute sense of smell, which is estimated to be 10,000 to 100,000 times more sensitive than a human’s, to locate remains.
- They can detect human decomposition even if a body has been buried, submerged, or concealed.
- They are trained to differentiate between human remains and animal remains.
- Some are cross-trained to assist in disaster response, homicide investigations, and missing persons cases.
- Cadaver dogs are commonly used in murder investigations, natural disasters, mass casualty events, and forensic searches.
- Their ability to detect DNA traces makes them valuable in finding evidence related to violent crimes, even when bodies have been moved or concealed.
Authorities have since charged 20-year-old Angela Mejia with Chantel’s murder, less than 24 hours after the child’s body was found. According to police reports, Mejia led law enforcement officers to the location, a revelation that has shaken the nation and triggered widespread calls for swift justice.
Chantel, a student of Five Islands Primary School, was allegedly abducted on Wednesday afternoon while on her way home. Witnesses saw her waving to her schoolmates from a Honda car on Number 2 George Street in Grays Farm, marking the last time she was seen alive.
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Why not use the dog we already have
U must be rassole fool how u expect them to take up normal dog to dk it those dogs are k9 dogs train from bups u want a rass lick to have common sense everything u all talk bout use your own is Antigua dogs train??? Best yu shut u rass
Smh we need to keep safe why get dogs what we need is feel safe this news is scary right now because we dnt need to feel like you can’t protect us so ur gonna get dogs to look for pur dead bodies right now am hurting 😢 😞 💔 😔
Mr prime minister we need to find all these killers
Weatherills Estate is a very bushy and wooded area . It covers tons of areas of secluded lands with a network of string like roads. Many a weird occurrences has happened in that area because of its privacy and the very nature of its make up. I honestly don’t believe it was the girls first journey to that Weatherills area and it seem like a location that she was well familiar with. I hope the authorities would do a comprehensive search of that entire area. There might be more surprises to be discovered including the possible remnants of what bodies “mongoose” left.
The RPFAB had or allegedly had a Canine Unit years ago which was under the guidance of an Officer Pelle if I’m not mistaken. I stand to be corrected.
If this Canine Unit was disbanded with the knowledge, that CANINES are a useful asset in crime fighting, search and rescue missions etc, then it adds credence to these facts…
A…the cart is always placed before the horse to move forward and improve our society.
B…PPP – Piss Poor Planning!
C…Piss Poor Management.
D…Being PROACTIVE is a bane and a pain to those charged with managing the public affairs.
Jumbee_Picknee aka Ras Smood
De’ole Dutty Peg🦶🏾Garrat_Bastard
Vere C. Edwards
I understand the last time the government bought dogs into Antigua to help with crime they were the size of large wolves. The caretaker for these dogs did a poor job caring for and feeding them. At night the dogs would get out searching for food and kill off the live stock in the area. The owners of the animals killed track down the dogs and killed all of them. Let’s hope we don’t get a repeat of that.
There are many unresolved loose ends, much gossip, people disappearing and still not found, and killers on the loose plotting another attack. This is a very small island.
I have to wonder sometimes about our citizens who are always up in these comments. I seriously wonder about our comprehension capabilities; whether we are deliberately obtuse, or we really can’t comprehend, or we simply must criticize (unconstructively) everything the current administration does, tries to do, or speaks of doing.
Do we know what cadaver dogs do? I know it was VERY CLEARLY SPELLED OUT IN THE ARTICLE ABOVE, but did we even properly read it (that includes understanding what was read), before rushing to comment?
If the PM suggested getting cadaver dogs to aid in police investigations, how does that translate to “waiting for us to die, to use dogs to search for our bodies”? We might feel afraid, but we can’t let fear dictate how we operate.
Little Chantel was the fourth person in recent weeks to go missing. Unfortunately, the outcome we all feared for her is now the reality… Sincerest condolences to her family and to the nation as a whole.
But there are many others who have disappeared without a trace. CADAVER DOGS are SPECIALLY TRAINED TO DETECT HUMAN REMAINS AND DNA, and could prove to be a very valuable tool to assist in searching for our loved ones THAT ARE ALREADY MISSING.
If I’m not mistaken, the K9 dogs we CURRENTLY HAVE are TRAINED TO DETECT CONTRABAND, i.e. DRUGS, and MAYBE GUNS & AMMUNITION. They certainly can’t simply use them to search for possible human remains or DNA.
I can’t swear the K9 Unit hasn’t been disbanded, because I just don’t know. But I do remember seeing them deployed at the Air Cargo shed as recently as last year, after the arrival of an Amerijet flight. The previous year as well, I was just a bit too close for comfort, when two of the dogs with their handlers, were entering the Air Cargo Shed: again it was after the arrival of an Amerijet flight.
Since Weatherill’s was used to conceal Chantel’s body, it might be prudent to employ Cadaver dogs as quickly as possible and converge on that area…who knows, maybe it is a common site used to conceal mortal remains.
And many of us have read/heard about suspicious activities behind of the stadium, on the back road: perhaps it might be beneficial to try using these specially trained animals to revisit searched areas!
We all want our loved ones found! Cadaver dogs don’t just detect human remains, also detect human DNA, i.e. they can tell whether the person being tracked was in a particular place.
We are not even close to the ideal place in terms of crime prevention and crime fighting, but these commitments are a start.
It is NOT TOO LITTLE TOO LATE! We just need to stay vigilant, being our brothers’ keepers, being aware of our surroundings at all times.
We must continue to hold our leaders’ feet to the fire and hold them accountable for the job they were hired to do!