US missionaries found slain in Jamaica

The battered bodies of two American missionaries have been found in a rural area of Jamaica, a country long ranked among the world's most violent.

Two US missionaries have been found slain in a rural area of Jamaica, police say.

In a statement on Sunday, the Jamaica Constabulary Force identified the two men as Randy Hentzel, 48, and Harold Nichols, 53. Their battered bodies were found in bushes in separate areas of St Mary parish.

There have been no arrests. Investigators have not issued a possible motive.

Both missionaries lived and worked in Jamaica for a Pennsylvania-based religious organisation called Teams for Medical Missions. The two men and their families did evangelism and built homes.

The religious group and the US Embassy in Jamaica did not immediately provide comment about the killings.

On social media, fellow missionary Merlin Pratt said he was told the two men were killed on their way to check on the foundation of a house they were building for an impoverished family.

"Harold and Randy were both great men of God who just loved Jamaica," Pratt wrote on Facebook.

Jamaica had at least 1192 slayings in 2015, a roughly 20 per cent increase from the previous year. The Caribbean nation, with a population of 2.7 million, has long been ranked among the most violent countries in the world.


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Source: AAP



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