Investigators are hoping to have the DNA results on the remains found in Butu Road, Valsayn by Friday but will “take their time” to ensure they get it right.

Newsday understands staff at the Forensic Science Centre in St James believe they are on track to meet the timeline set by the police but are unable to guarantee anything, given the state of the remains.

On March 12, police searched the compound and found remains they believed to be that of 18-year-old Hannah Mathura, who has not been seen since 2017.

The remains were found buried in a shallow grave in the backyard after police were directed there by one of Hannah’s relatives.

Police arrested Hannah’s parents after the remains were found but released them after a week on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Investigators now say the inquiry remains ongoing as they await “specific results” to guide their way forward.

Police told Newsday they are now awaiting DNA tests to determine whether it was Hannah’s body.

A source close to the investigation told Newsday the remains were also taken for x-ray analysis on Monday, with the results expected to be made available to investigators on Tuesday.

“The evidence was placed in a body bag so the contents remain intact and you don’t lose it and there is no evidence falling off.”

“The remains were sent to the Port of Spain General hospital along with contents in the body bag for an x-ray to see if there are any bullets or anything or any other evidence that might be metallic in content.”

According to the source, the DNA tests “will take some time” given the state of the remains. An expert in the field told Newsday extracting DNA could be a difficult task in this case as there would be very little bone marrow available for testing.

The scientists conducting the tests will have to dissolve the bones to extract DNA.

“When the bones are that old. There’s no skin, there’s nothing in it. The bones are just dried. There’s no marrow and when they cut those bones they are empty. What you’re looking at is actually trying to extract marrow from the actual bone itself that remains.”

“We cut the bone and we try to extract from the inner side of the bone and see what good, reliable DNA results.” “You just want to extract the bone and see how much the bone is yielding, and then you can amplify and then get it profiled.”

The expert said this method of DNA extraction is time-consuming and must be done with precision. “You don’t want to spoil that. You want to do it once and then do it twice to make sure.”

The expert warned that the results are not always favourable and could result in an even longer wait.

“Sometimes it’s hit or a miss… Sometimes you do an extraction and go through the whole test and then you don’t get the result.” The source said scientists are waiting to “see what the first set of results will give” before determining if it must be redone.

“A bone extraction is nothing new and it doesn’t take plenty resources but it takes time because of how it is.” The source added investiga