Police in Eleuthera and New Providence were tight-lipped during the seven-day investigation since the first report of Ms. Katrina Kelly of The Bluff, North Eleuthera going missing on the island was circulated, on Friday, August 14th, 2026.
Ms. Kelly, said to be an assistant manager at Pink Sands Hotel who also operated a car rental business had last been seen on Tuesday, August 11th by family members.
Police in New Providence announced on Thursday, August 20th, that “two men, ages 31 and 34, and a 43-year-old woman” were scheduled to appear before the Magistrate’s Court on Friday, August 21st, 2026, at noon. The three individuals, said the statement from police, would be arraigned on charges of Murder, Damage of Property, and Compounding a Crime.
The charges, the police statement confirmed, stemmed from investigations into the disappearance of 34-year-old Katrina Kelly, who was reported missing on Friday, August 14th, 2026, in The Bluff, North Eleuthera.
Following the court appearance on Friday, a Nassau daily, reported that although the body of Katrina Kelly had not been recovered, the two men (31-year-old Rico Hepburn, and 34-year-old Dencil Delancy), along with the woman (43-year-old Jakita Cash), were all accused of causing Katrina’s death on August 11th, while in Eleuthera.
The lawyer for the accused, Ben McKinney, was reported to have suggested that the charge was premature – citing no evidence of murder, since Ms. Kelly remains missing. However, Acting Chief Magistrate Ancella Evans, according to the daily, said the argument had to be made in the Supreme Court.
It was reported that the accused did not have to enter pleas, and bail was denied to all three.
Hepburn, Delancy, and Cash, who were remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services, are all scheduled to return to court on February 4th, 2027, when a Voluntary Bill of Indictment (VBI) is to be presented, that will allow the Murder case to proceed directly to the Supreme Court for trial.
