ON Sunday last, senior citizen Eustace Marcelino left his home to cut wood in a nearby field at Hubu Hill, Mabaruma but never returned.

Days later, the 85-year old man’s relatives discovered his shoes and a cutlass some distance away from his North West District home. He resided opposite the Guyana Defence Force base, Camp Everard, near the Mabaruma airstrip.

They became worried about his safety after information surfaced that a close relative visited the Post Office in the area one day after he went missing and collected his pension by allegedly forging his signature.

According to a relative, Marcellino had been in a feeble state for months. She explained that one of his relatives would move into his home whenever the time is near for him to collect his old age pension. She said that the relative was also in the habit of “beating” Marcellino and since his disappearance on April 02, they believe he may have been harmed.

“One of his relatives went and collect his pension the day after he missing and we believe she knew what happen to him,” the man’s relative noted. She said a missing person’s report was made at the police station at Mabaruma but according to her, ranks there appeared unconcerned about the matter.

“We told them and they say we must keep searching,” the relative noted. She called on the police to question the man’s close relative in relation to his disappearance.