An independent team from the UK, headed by a retired homicide detective who specialises in child-death cases, will be investigating the death of 2-year-old Alissady Azalea Powell, whose body was found on the Cayman Brac shoreline more than a mile-and-a-half from her home in July last year.
The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service announced on Monday that, following the completion of an internal review of its investigation into the child’s death, Commissioner of Police Derek Byrne had approved the commission of the specialist team to look into the case.
“The police are aware of the public interest in this tragic case, none more so than in Cayman Brac,” Byrne said in a statement. “At a recent community meeting I attended there, they reiterated their desire for answers in this case. It is important we do everything we can to aid this investigation, and bringing in this specialist team is an important next step.”
The child’s mother, Yvane Dixon-Powell, spoke to the Cayman Compass recently, calling for answers into her death of her little girl, whom she described as “a real angel and a real princess”.
The child’s body was discovered by a Cayman Islands Fire Service vessel along the shoreline about four hours after her mother reported her missing from their home in the early hours of 26 July 2022.
Former Detective Chief Superintendent Russell Wate will head the specialist team, which includes a child forensic psychologist and a forensic pathologist, also from the UK, as well as members of the RCIPS team involved in investigating the case.
Wate is perhaps best known in the UK for his involvement in the investigation into the deaths of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, two 10-year-old girls who were murdered by Ian Huntley in 2002.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Wate has worked as the senior investigating officer in more than 100 major crime investigations, including homicides, international kidnapping cases and large-scale paedophile enquiries. He received the Queen’s Police Medal for distinguished service in 2008 when he was the head of Cambridgeshire CID.
Wate is expected to arrive in Grand Cayman on Monday, 29 May, to begin his review before travelling to Cayman Brac.
The RCIPS said Alissady’s family has been informed of the independent review and the arrival of the specialist team.
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