Trinidad: 74-year-old found dead under bed, daughter refers to her as ‘devil’ in Facebook post 

Trinidad and Tobago: The investigations into the tragic death of 74-year-old Doodhani Vishvati Sooknanan has stalled as a postmortem examination to determine the exact cause of her death has not yet been conducted, said the Trinidad and Tobago Police Force.

According to the officials, this delay is because of the continued refusal from the relatives of the victim to visit the Forensic Science Centre in St James in order to officially identify her body and sign the required documentation.

Because of this, the police officials said that they are appealing to the members of the public who knew the deceased to help with the identification process. An officer, while appealing to the public, said that it can be a friend, neighbour or even a former co-worker.

Notably, Sooknanan who is also known as Mary, a resident of Edinburgh 500, Chaguanas was found dead after police officials responded to a welfare check at her residence. According to reports, officers received a call regarding the victim’s wellbeing at the said address on January 8, 2026.

Upon arriving at the scene, they met Mira Vanderbilt, the deceased’s daughter, who also resides at the home. When questioned about the whereabouts of her mother, Vanderbilt told the officials that she had not seen her mother however the officers noted that she seemed to be disoriented and refused to open the door.

They further said that Vanderbilt and her teenage daughter were dressed in white coloured gowns with yellow headpieces at the time and because of their refusal to allow entry, they had to breach the door and get inside the residence.

The officers said that they found the residence in a state of decrepit and during a search of the upper floor, the officials found the decomposing and partially nude dead body of a woman under a bed and there were no visible signs of violence on her.

When the officers checked the entire home, they also found 19-year-old Manju Harrypaul, the deceased’s autistic granddaughter at the scene.

Following this discovery, a District Medical officer visited the scene and viewed the body before pronouncing its dead and ordered for an autopsy examination which is set to take place at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt. Hope.

Following the discovery, Vanderbilt made a Facebook post announcing her mother’s death, using language police described as disturbing and conspiratorial. In the post, she referred to the deceased as a “devil” and made references to “reptilians,” ancient events, and a group she called the “3I/Atlas Crew,” which she claimed was responsible for “destroying all evil.”

The weird post on Facebook caught the eye of officials with police saying that they are looking into the daughter and the possibility of involvement of foul play.

Police say investigations are continuing and no foul play has been indicated at this time, pending the results of the post-mortem examination.