Haiti police are investigating whether part of a body found in an area where a freelance Haitian photojournalist disappeared March 14 are those of Vladjimir Legagneur, 30, Miami Herald reports.
Police spokesman Frantz Lerebours said the mangled partial remains were discovered Wednesday, along with a hat, after Police Chief Michel-Ange Gédéon ordered police to run an operation into Grand Ravine, the gang-controlled neighborhood in Port-au-Prince where Legagneur was last seen as he worked on an independent project.
“It’s the DNA [test] that will say for sure if it is him,” said Lerebours, adding that a motorcycle taxi driver who drove the victim was also killed.
On the morning of March 14, Legagneur told his wife, Fleurette Guerrier, that he was headed to the teeming slum to meet someone as part of an independent photo assignment. A freelancer who worked for several Haitian media outlets, Legagneur “really loved taking photos and he was passionate about it,” Guerrier, 31, said.
“It wasn’t about the money,” she said. “He always seized every opportunity he could to take a photo.”
A police source said they know Legagneur stopped in at a nearby police station before entering Grand Ravine, where gang members keep a close eye on people coming into and leaving the area.
