The man the police said was the prime suspect in Andrea Bharatt’s kidnapping and murder is dead.
Police Commissioner Gary Griffith confirmed to Guardian Media that Joel Belcon, 37, died while being treated at Mount Hope Hospital.
Other senior police sources told Guardian Media that he died around 2:40 pm.
Belcon sources said he was the man who drove the Nissan Versa in which Bharatt was kidnapped on January 29.
Belcon, a well-known sex offender, was arrested with several others two days later for questioning about his disappearance.
He tried to escape police custody at the Jacob settlement in Sangre Grande last Sunday.
Researchers believe Belcon, aka Devon Charles, is responsible for the disappearance of several women – including a woman who disappeared 13 years ago.