There are people who know where to find the remains of kidnapped Vijay Persad, and now that his family is dead, a final plea is being made for information that will bring him home in time for a funeral for all five.

Vijay was ten years old when he was snatched by two men who went to rob his father's mini-mart in June 2004. Three days later, a $500,000 ransom demand was made. The kidnappers never called again, and despite the detention of 16 people and an offer of a $20,000 reward, the boy was never seen by his parents again.

In the early hours of last Saturday, a fire destroyed Vijay's home at Moruga Road, Indian Walk, killing his father, Ragkumar, 49, mother Marilyn Persad, 48, brother Sanjay, 13, and sister Aryanna, six.

Vijay's uncle, Kimraj Persad, said yesterday of the missing boy: "I am appealing to the people out there. The family is gone. Please help us find Vijay and give us closure."

Kimraj Persad said he believes Vijay was killed by his abductors and left to rot somewhere in the expanse of forest in Moruga.

Another of Vijay's uncles, Dhanpat Persad, said of the four-year mystery: :We will be glad if we can get Vijay's remains and put this to rest."

Relatives have dismissed suggestions that the Persads were victims of a murder-suicide at the weekend.

Homicide crime scene and fire service investigators spent hours at the ruins yesterday, looking for clues on how the fire started.

A witness said the flames first came from an area in which Persad slept. In that room, was a deya that remained lit all night, his brother Kimraj said. His wife and children slept in adjoining rooms.

The flames that tore through the old wooden house were too intense for neighbours to attempt a rescue. Fire-fighters met a series of steel doors, burglar proofing and fences they could not get past. The bodies were found on or close to the bed frames.

So little of the Persads remained that they might all fit into one casket at the funeral to be held at Kimraj Persad's home at St Julien Village, Princes Town.

Autopsies of the bodies may not help police solve the case. The pathologist yesterday found that the four died from toxic smoke inhalation, which meant the smoke got to them before the flames.

School friends of Aryanna and Sanjay Persad will attend the funeral. At the Robert Village Hindu School in Tableland where Aryanna was a first standard pupil, a prayer service was held yesterday.

Aryanna, Sanjay and Vijay all attended the primary school and according to a teacher, "all were brilliant, well-disciplined, and the most perfect children anyone could ask for". The school intends to hold prayer meetings all week for the family.

At the Barrackpore Secondary School where Sanjay was in form one, pupils yesterday donated their lunch money to help the only member of the family who survived-18-year-old Nirmala Persad, who turned 18 yesterday.

If you have information on Vijay's whereabouts, please call 800-tips, the Princes Town police at 655-7330 or the San Fernando Homicide Bureau at 652-0495.