Police still conducting investigations in case

WHY did it take the police 23 days to identify Mr Aries Jasuwito's body? This question remains unanswered as the police did not reply The New Paper's query by press time.

A police spokesman said: "Before deciding on an appropriate course of action, we will assess cases, taking into consideration the age, mental condition and health of the missing person, and the situation and circumstances in which the person went missing."

Based on the physical description provided by family members of the missing person, an alert will be sent out to officers on patrol.

The police declined to elaborate on what other internal procedures and steps are taken when a missing person report is lodged, and whether checks are made with hospitals and mortuaries as part of the investigations.

Asked what they did in this case, the spokesman said: "It is inappropriate to provide further details as investigations are still ongoing."

At about 1.10pm on 26 Oct, the police were informed about a motionless person found at the foot of Block 224, Simei Street 4. Mr Aries, who had no identification papers on him, was taken to Changi General Hospital where he died at about 2.10pm on the same day.

"Initial efforts to establish the man's identity and to trace the next-of-kin were futile as there were no identification documents," the spokesman said.

Mr Aries' family filed a missing person report with the police about 9.40pm that night. Meanwhile, his body was moved to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) mortuary. Unlike mortuaries at other hospitals, the SGH mortuary is run by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA).

The process of identifying an unknown body is unclear.

A HSA spokesman said the police are in charge of identifying such bodies and notifying the next-of-kin.

In Mr Aries' case, the HSA had to wait for the police to give the cue on when to release the body. The police are investigating the case as one of unnatural death.

This article was first published in The New Paper.