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Piari Creek Drowning…Relatives believe miner was murdered
Relatives of a miner whose body was recently fished out of Piari Creek, Region Seven are calling on the Commissioner of Police and the Minister of Home Affairs to force the intensification of investigations into the suspicious circumstances of his demise, since they suspect murder.
Leon “Dougla” Andrews
The body of Leon “Dougla” Andrews, 27, of Lot 22 Prince William Street, Plaisance, East Coast Demerara was recovered from the Piari Creek on Wednesday last, some 12 hours after he went to the area to take a bath and never returned to his mining camp.
According to relatives, when the body was discovered, there were several scratches on his face and chest and this led family members to believe that there was foul play involved in his death.
Relative’s suspicions were almost confirmed on Friday last when a post mortem examination revealed that blunt trauma to the head along with asphyxiation due to drowning were contributory factors in Andrews’ death.
His father, Jerome Andrews said that the dead man had been working on a mining concern which he called ‘Rats mining company’.
Personnel at the company’s interior operations claimed that Andrews’ death was accidental.
“They said he went down to the river side and fell into the river and drown,” Jerome Andrews told this newspaper.
Andrews said that his son had contacted him from Bartica before he left to go into camp a few weeks ago. “He said ‘dad look, I just called to let you know I was going in’. I then sent some money through the post office for him to purchase personal items and he returned a call to say he received the money.”
The father of four further explained that police need to investigate and take statements from persons who were at the camp and in the area at the time of his son’s demise.
He believes that his son did not just fall into the creek and hit his head, but was struck by someone from behind.
“There had to be a problem in that camp because for years my son loved sports and was also involved with the karate federation and could have defended himself in a confrontation if approached from the front. However, I am not buying this drowning story, and I am saying so many things do not add up.”
Reports disclosed that Leon Andrews was last seen on Tuesday evening last when he left the camp with his soap and towel. However, he never returned for dinner and his colleagues thought that he went to another camp, so there was no real alarm.
The following morning when the cook awoke at 04:00 hrs to prepare meals, he realised that “Dougla” was not his hammock. An alarm was raised and as the area got brighter with day light, workers then went down to the creek where they found his long boots, soap and towel along with his clothes, but there was no sign of him.
A colleague then decided to enter the creek to search and Andrews’ body was discovered. After the discovery, the police were called in and the body was initially transported to the Bartica Hospital Mortuary and then subsequently transferred to the Lyken’s Funeral Home.
Andrews did not have any children and was described as a very jovial person.
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