IN my Tuesday, May 6, 2025 column, I wrote: “In all the countries in the world, there would have been comments about the deportment of the parents of Adriana Younge. But either people are deferring to them because they lost a child or people are afraid to make pointed remarks, which are justified based on the things these parents have said so far.”

In my Wednesday, May 7 column, I wrote: “The investigators will do exactly that because in the mountain of emanations from the Younge family members, there are lines of questioning that the investigators will pursue. What makes anyone think that the investigators will not question the friends of the Younge family and the family itself?”

After hearing what Mikhail Rodrigues, a.k.a, Guyanese Critic, intoned on the Freddie Kissoon Show last Friday evening, I am convinced that Guyanese need to put questions to the family members of Adriana Younge – her father, mother and grandmother. If you did not see the interview with Mr. Rodrigues, you need to in order to acquaint yourself with this multi-facet story.

It was Mr. Rodrigues who sent the theories of murder into a ubiquitous vortex in and beyond Guyana when he announced that he filmed the pool and did not see a body in there. When the body turned up in the pool the next day, conspiracy theorists multiplied by the hundreds and a politically fertile field was massively manured by anti-government actors.

I asked Mr. Rodrigues what time of day he filmed the pool. He said 10.30 PM. I enquired what equipment he used. His reply was his cell phone. I probed whether the pool was dirty, making visibility difficult. He agreed using the word “murky.” With definitive unambiguousness, I asked the Guyanese Critic if he had said publicly that there wasn’t a body in the pool.

He said he did, and he uttered that pronouncement because the mother said they searched the pool and Adriana’s body was not there. In a definitive walking back of his position, the Guyanese Critic agreed that his filming could not have been 100% successful.

Before we move on, three things from Guyanese Critic need to be aired:  1- when asked for his take on the Younge tragedy, he said he thinks she drowned, but toxicology reports must be awaited; 2- his video of the pool revealed opaque parts of it; 3- his video shows a very dirty section of the pool at the pool’s deepest level and where the ladder is to make your descent.

Now, for some questions, and we start with the Younge family members. While there must be empathy and sympathy for the Younge family, Guyana must not be held at ransom by the Younge family. Is the Younge family involved in politicising the tragedy? Let’s look at the family’s attitude. Before the mother or any other human in Guyana, outside of the police force, saw even a paragraph of the autopsy report, the mother rejected her own esteemed pathologist from the U.S. and requested a second examination.

President Irfaan Ali visited the family’s home twice and spent far more time than a courteous visit takes. The President of Guyana promised the Younge family that his government would do anything to bring justice to the family. Yet since those two visits, the family has repudiated the initial post-mortem finding and rejected the Government of Guyana’s selection of a highly trained retired Canadian forensic detective.

Is the Younge family telling this nation that it has no faith in President Ali? The answer will be interesting because the President had to agree to the Canadian officer. I am pointedly asking the Younge family if they have any faith in President Ali’s efforts. One hopes there isn’t an unfortunate answer because I believe the President is sincere in wanting to bring a definitive conclusion to the case.

My second question to the Younge family is, why isn’t there even an effort to meet the President halfway? Now for some more questions. Daren Wade is a dyed-in-the-wool opposition supporter. Why was he removed as the family lawyer? Could it be that Wade was more concerned with protecting his legal credibility? What was it that was told to the family about Wade that caused Wade to either remove himself or be removed? Alternatively, was Wade asked to make pronouncements that he chose not to?

Now I move to a sensitive area because libel may be lurking. Mr. Rodrigues on the show asserted what he knows about the Younge family doctor’s reason for diluting his relationship with the Younge family. I am not going to say what Rodrigues said the doctor told him. But if true, there is definitely a strange, mysterious and depressing tale about to be born.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.