By Nagra Plunkett, Staff ReporterTHE CHILDREN of Marlene Gidden are in misery following the discovery of her body in bushes at the Braco Land Settlement in Rio Bueno, Trelawny, on Sunday.
The body was found by her son, Leroy, about 3:45 p.m. during a search launched by residents for the 55-year-old woman. Her body was eventually found in the bushes, a short distance away from her home.
"I am just trying to keep up. Right now it does not come to me as reality; it's like I'm in trauma or something," Michelle Brown, her daughter, told The Gleaner Monday afternoon.
Even more devastating for the family, is the fact that Gidden's common-law husband, 67-year-old Clarence Brown, is now missing.
Michelle says she believes that her parents were abducted from their home in Braco Land Settlement. The 27-year-old woman says she lives about a mile away from the couple, parents of four children.
"Normally, we cook for them on Sundays and carry the food to them, but on Sunday, after leaving church, I had a lot of things to do so I asked my cousin to go there," the 27-year-old woman recalled. "He came back and said that he was there for over an hour and that was when Leroy went to do a thorough search of the house."
HOUSE WAS NOT RANSACKED
According to her, the house was not ransacked, but a few things were out of place suggesting that "a struggle" had taken place.
"I didn't get to see my mother's body, but I was told that she was nude and dried blood was on her nose. I believe she got a hit in the head," she stated. "Leroy is taking it really, really hard. I don't know of anyone who would want to harm them."
The Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) says that the Falmouth police have no leads into the circumstances surrounding the death of Miss Gidden. They are awaiting the results of the post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death. The CCN report did not mention that Michelle's father was missing, or that a suspect was taken into custody.
The Gleaner understands that the suspect is a member of the community against whom Miss Gidden had pressed criminal charges. That matter was still before the court.
The investigators later confirmed that the whereabouts of the common-law husband was not known and that a man was detained for questioning.
