A Police press release said the body with mouth gagged by a piece of white cloth which was tied behind the neck, was clad in black trunks, three-quarter light blue pants and a white Polo tee-shirt.

A black suitcase was found on the body which also bore marks of violence, and a pair of `Nike' sneakers lay nearby, Police said.

The Police release stated that after the boy was kidnapped he was taken into the troubled East Coast village of Buxton.

Reports indicate that the teenager was last seen in the company of a female friend at the East Bank Demerara minibus park, prior to his disappearance sometime between 13:30 and 14:30 hrs on Saturday.

A relative told media operatives that the boy's captors had made telephone contact with the family around 19:30 hrs on Saturday requesting $10M ransom, and promising to call again.

On hearing the disturbing news, the relative said, the boy's father, Ferguson Belle who operates a mining operation in the interior, hastily flew to the city arriving at around 17:30 hrs Sunday.

The kidnappers who called again at approximately 20:05 hrs, spoke with the father who immediately began negotiating with them in an effort to secure his son's release, while also trying to secure the sum which was asked, the relative said.

Another contact was made later in the night by the kidnappers who were informed by the father that he had secured a portion of the money, he said.

They instructed that the money be left at an identified place in the city, and according to the relative the father also offered to leave along with the cash, a car with the keys inside.

A relative subsequently took the money and the car to the location and when he returned the boy's family waited anxiously for word from the kidnappers, but none was forthcoming.

He said they waited the entire night but got "no word".

Then yesterday morning they learnt that a body was found on the East Coast which was identified as that of the missing teenager.

The kidnapping and subsequent murder of young Belle was the third kidnapping within days.

The others were Deo Basdeo, a resident of Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara and Chief Security Officer at the United States Embassy here, Steve Lesniak.

Reports said Basdeo was taken captive around 05:30 hrs on Friday after he disembarked from a minibus at Vryheid's Lust, a village also on the East Coast, while Lesniak was kidnapped around 09:30 hrs Saturday by two men who came from among nearby bushes, as he played golf at the Lusignan Golf Course.

Both men were reportedly taken into Buxton and held hostage while their kidnappers called the respective families demanding ransoms.