A Jamaican pastor who went out to clear a piece of land was found headless in the bushes a day after going missing.
Jamaican Pastor Kenniffe Andre Reid was found dead and headless on Monday morning in Sandy Bay along a dirt track at New Town district in Hanover, Jamaica, The Star reported.
According to The Star, Reid called his wife, Latoya, last Friday that he'll be going to a community in New Town, Hanover and attend to a land that he is clearing to build a house on.
Reid then left the home of a church sister in New Town after lunch of Sunday, specifically 1:30 p.m., to go to the said land. The church sister called the Sandy Bay police when he did not return as he said on Sunday. However, the church sister was told by police that they could not do anything until a person has gone missing for 24 hours.
The church sister then organized a search party on Monday morning and found Reid's bag and water bottle in the bushes along with a machete. They found his headless body thirty minutes later, specifically at 8:30 a.m., in the bushes along a dirt track.
They immediately called the Sandy Bay police who came to the scene to process it. His body was then removed from the scene and brought to the morgue. However, the pastor's head could not be found days after.
Loop Jamaica, on the other hand, reported that Reid's severed head remained missing until Tuesday afternoon. The media outlet added that no motive could be established for the killing of Reid, whose residence is in St. Catherine.
Reid, a 40-year-old resident of Westmoreland, is an ordained minister according to the records of Open Ministry since February 12, 2020.
Meanwhile, the Jamaica Observer revealed on Thursday that Reid was actually a former pastor of Alpha and Omega Tabernacle that was located in St. James before it closed.
In addition, the Jamaica Observer also disclosed that Reid was separated a year ago from his wife whom he had two sons--aged four, Fael, and one, Josiah. He relocated from Ewarton, St. Catherine to Unity Hall, St James but kept in communication with his wife and sons.
The Jamaica Observer added that the pastor's family remains in shock and unable to grasp the situation especially with the children still very young.
"I told the big one and he said he is not going to see him smile again, but he doesn't really understand," Latoya said.
Latoya said that their children would "fight for the phone to speak to him" when he called and the last time she actually saw him was last Christmas when he picked up Fael who stayed over his place for the holidays.
"I am very sad, heartbroken and it also gives me a constant headache, especially because of the way it happened. It is just heartrending. When I first got the news it was worse. But it is not sinking in alltogether," Latoya said.
The Jamaican Observer also clarified that Reid left his cellphone to charge at the church sister's house before he left to clear the plot of land. This is why when dusk came and he didn't return, the church sister got worried and organized a search party on Sunday, during which they found his stuff in the plot of land that prompted community members to call the police. The search party then resumed early next day and found Reid's lifeless body.
Hanover Police Division Superintendent Commander Sharon Beeput told the Jamaican Observer that one person was already taken into custody for questioning while another is still being pursued for the pastor's heinous murder and that they are looking into "domestic dispute" as a motive for it.
In similar news, the Jamaica Gleaner reported that Reid previously told the residents of New Town that "someone had appeared to be preparing to commence construction on the land" during one of his visit to it for clearing.
