The body of Delon Hernandez, a 20-year-old gold miner of Parakeese Village, North-West District (NWD), was discovered on Sunday afternoon – three days after he had gone missing during a boat mishap.
The incident occurred at around 21:00h in the Barama River near Waikrebe Village in Region One (Barima-Waini).
Based on information received, Hernandez works in Waikrebe Village and on Thursday last, he left along with two other friends/co-workers, Jason Crawford and Osopho Saul, to go to Kwebanna Village in the Moruca Subdistrict, NWD, in a boat.
After purchasing food items there to take back to Waikrebe, the three young men imbibed before leaving Kwebanna. However, on the way back to Waikrebe, Crawford, who was operating the boat, stopped the vessel in the Barama River at around 21:00h to allow Saul to urinate.
But in the process of urinating, Saul slipped and fell into the river but managed to hold onto a rope attached to the bow of the boat. Crawford attempted to pull Saul out of the water but the boat tilted and began to sink, causing all three men to go overboard.
They then began to swim to the bank of the river. Due to the strong current, however, Hernandez did not make it and was seen holding onto a tree along the left side riverbank. Crawford called out to him, and he responded once, but because of the darkness, they could not see each other nor the boat.
Further calls from the two friends to went unanswered. Crawford subsequently left Saul in the area to search for the missing man and returned to Waikrebe, which was a short distance away. He then returned with another boat, picked up Saul, and they searched the area for Hernandez for about an hour.
The two men then returned to the Waikrebe Village and returned to the area the following morning to continue the search for the missing young man but failed to locate him.
The incident was then reported to the Santa Cruz Police Outpost on Friday, and an investigation was launched.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, residents from Waikrebe Village were continuing the search nearby in the Barama River when they discovered Hernandez’s body, which started to show signs of decomposition.
The discovery was made at around 13:30h, after which it was retrieved. The police were summoned to the scene and escorted the body to the Moruca District Hospital, where a doctor formally pronounced Hernandez dead.
The body is currently at the hospital’s mortuary, awaiting a post-mortem examination.
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
