THE identity of the miner killed Sunday night at Mousie Landing, Konawaruk,  in Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni), has still not been established. The dead man was with another miner, Clifford Andrews, when they were shot at but his identification continues to baffle other miners in the area and the Police.
Relatives, having yesterday viewed the body which was thought to be that of David Courtman, 36, of Richmond, said it is not him.
Initial reports from Mahdia had named the deceased as dredge owner Devon Thomas, from Mainstay, also on the Essequibo Coast but, subsequently, Police reported it was Courtman.
Theresa Courtman, David’s mother, speaking from her Richmond Housing Scheme home, said she had received a call, from the Police in Georgetown Tuesday, informing her of her son’s death.
The woman said she was also told an autopsy would have been performed on the corpse yesterday, after it was positively identified by her or a relative.
His body, along with that of Oswald `Ossie’ Bourne, one of his alleged attackers, was transported to the city Tuesday afternoon and Theresa Courtman and her husband, Chamindra Dass also known as `Anand’, who is David’s stepfather, travelled to the city earlier yesterday morning.
They first visited the Police E&F Division, which has responsibility for the interior area where the killing took place, but Dass said, on seeing the remains in the morgue, he realised they were not David’s.
According to him, David, while still living on the Essequibo Coast, had lost a piece of one finger in an accident but the body he saw had ten perfect fingers.
Meanwhile, a man at Mahdia told this newspaper that persons believed the dead man was the dredge owner because he, like Courtman, had two rotting front teeth.
Explaining a possible reason for the initial mix-up, he said it is normal, in the `gold bush’, for miners to, at weekends or holidays, after a `washdown’, to go where there are several shops and boutiques to have a nice time.
He said they do not, necessarily, have to belong to the same camp or know each other as they drink and socialise but some people, for their own reasons, do not give their correct names when working in the interior and prefer to be known by aliases.
Consequently, in instances such as death, their real names are not known unless someone knows the deceased personally.
He further stated that, because of the upsurge in criminal activity in the gold mining areas, it is not uncommon for groups of miners, not friends or from the same camp, to walk together.
In this instance, where the unidentified man was killed, he and others had been watching World Cup football and were walking back to camp when they were set upon by bandits.
Meanwhile, the autopsy established that the cause of death was perforation of the lungs, liver and  heart, resulting from gunshot injuries.
No stab wounds were found as was reported in another section of the media.
Captain Yvonne Pearson, of Mainstay/Whyaka, said yesterday that ever since news surfaced of the death, she has been receiving phone calls as males from the community are working in the gold fields.
She said she has been in constant contact with Theresa Courtman and, as Toshao of the community, she has been doing a head count of all of the males employed in gold mining, either by contacting them individually or their relatives.
Pearson said, with the exception of a young man named Fredericks who cannot be mistaken for Courtman, all others have been counted.
Andrews, of Chenapau, remains hospitalized, nursing a gunshot wound on the right side chest and injuries to his eyes and head.