Saint Lucian arrested, linked with death of Dominican woman

A man being held by police in Dominica in connection with the death of a 34-year old mother of five is a St. Lucian national, police have confirmed.

Gloria Celestine of Lagon, Portsmouth, was discovered dead between a concrete wall and a house, three days after she was reported missing. Her body was “partially decomposed and was pronounced dead at the scene”, John Carbon, public relations officer of the Police Department in Roseau, reported.

Lawmen have held two men for questioning since the discovery of Celestine’s body on Saturday. Police have not disclosed their names as investigations carry on, but they say one of the pair is a Saint Lucian who has been residing in Dominica. Investigations have revealed that the Saint Lucian arrested was Celestine’s live-in boyfriend originally from Vieux Fort.

Celestine had last been seen about 2:40 a.m. on Wednesday, November 6 at Memory Lane disco in Portsmouth, according to earlier police reports. A source also stated that she was in the company of her fifteen year old daughter who later returned home without her mother. It was that time that an alarm was reportedly raised by her boyfriend. The body was later discovered not too far from where the woman lived and at the time her boyfriend sat near their seaside dwelling in Dominica. It is understood that Celestine was also raped before she was killed, but police sources in Dominica would neither deny nor confirm this.

The Dominica Government has expressed sympathies to the family of Gloria Celestine noting that she was one of the individuals down to receive housing repairs.

The government also vowed to assist Celestine’s children.

“Even though of a short term nature, the government will do everything that’s possible to ensure that these children can continue to live a decent life,” said then Acting Prime Minister Reginald Austrie on state-owned radio.