Mahaica labourer found dead

The body of a 33-year-old labourer from Mahaica, East Coast Demerara (ECD), was pulled from a river on Monday afternoon, days after he was reported missing when he failed to show up for work.

Dead is Terry Elias, popularly known as “Zulu” of Chelsea Park, Mahaica.

In an interview with this publication on Tuesday, his aunt, Cynthy Hamilton, said Elias was last seen at around 12:30h on Saturday when he left her home.

At the time, there were no immediate concerns, but by Sunday, his unexplained absence raised alarm after he failed to report to his job at a supermarket where he was employed as a labourer.

“Well, he leave here like around 12.30 Saturday night… it was my birthday, so he came, bought me a juice, and he said he was going to drop back something for me, but he didn’t. On Sunday, we then observed that he was missing… I got a phone call from the person that he’s working with at the supermarket, at the SNS, and his boss said he didn’t report for work,” Hamilton explained.

The woman said it was unusual for Elias to be absent from work without notice, prompting relatives to begin making checks. Elias, who is not married and has no children, reportedly lives at his Chelsea Park residence with a roommate.

According to Hamilton, although he had previously lived with her, he had been residing on his own for approximately 10 years.

As concerns mounted, a report was made to the police, and relatives continued efforts to locate him, but to no avail.

However, Hamilton said their search came to a grim end on Monday shortly after 13:00h when her nephew’s body was discovered in a river in the Mahaica area.

“He was found in the river by the Mahaica bridge. While they were searching, they saw his slippers by the bridge, and they decided to go and look, and then that’s where they found his body”, Hamilton stated.

She related that there were peculiar circumstances surrounding the discovery, noting that a bicycle believed to belong to Elias had also been seen in the area earlier but was not found at the exact location where his body was recovered.

“His bicycle was there, but we didn’t see it. Somebody had moved the bicycle from there,” the aunt disclosed.

Up to Tuesday, the family remained uncertain about what may have transpired. Hamilton said she could not confirm whether Elias had sustained any visible injuries or marks of violence, nor could she say definitively if foul play was suspected.

A post-mortem examination is expected to determine the cause of death.