Body of missing Bartons man found in river one week later

He's suspected to have drowned in the Corner Gully River in the community on August 25.

At that time several persons in the community came together and carried out a search of the area but to no avail.

Yesterday a team of police officers including members of the Marine Division conducted a thorough search of the river channel during which Robinson’s body was spotted, approximately one mile from where he drowned. The body, however, could not be removed as it was stuck between two boulders along the bank. 

A team of emergency rescuers from the Jamaica Fire Brigade and the Jamaica Defence Force came in this morning and spearheaded the removal of the body which was in a slight state of decomposition. 

Detectives from the constabulary’s scene of crime unit have taken control of the area, as they commence a detailed investigation in conjunction with local investigators, who have already taken statements from individuals who were present with Robinson at the time. A post mortem will be conducted to determine the true cause of death.

DSP Mark Harris, commander in charge of Old Harbour Police Zone, said the whole operation was very challenging, as they had to walk from Six Miles, Bartons due to the terrain of the area.

“Then we spend about 10 minutes to reach the river and then a next 45 minutes downstream to locate the body. It took us almost two hours to move the body from the area it was found back to Six Miles,” he said.

• Search continues in river for Bartons man

About 2:00 pm on the day of the tragic incident, Robinson and two adult females and two children went to the river for a swim. While enjoying their time, the former St Elizabeth Technical High School student, got into difficulty in an area that locals said to be about 18 feet deep.

A team of community members search exhaustively until nightfall. Efforts resuming their exploration of the area were hampered by persistent torrential rain which lasted for 48 hours.

On the same day the incident occurred the matter was reported at the Old Harbour Police Station. Investigators then sought additional help from its Marine Division and the JDF Coast Guard with the latter carrying out a patrol of the Bushy Park coastline in the vicinity of the river mouth.

With the water in the river having subsided by now a team led by the Marine Police carried out an extensive reconnaissance of the river channel where a pair of human legs was first observed hanging out from between some rocks.

The clothes Hakeem had on at the time were used by relatives to make a positive identification of the body, while many persons were overwhelmed with emotions.

The heart wrenching discovery brought to an end a very sad situation of a life that had so much promise but is now a fleeting memory.

“It naa go eez mi pain but it means a whole lot to me and the rest of the family that we find him. It least mommy have some closure to har pain,” said elder sister of Hakeem, Dagea Robinson, who added: “The children dem traumatise, dem naa tek it good but dem affi jus tek it one day at a time. It hard enuh! It very, very, very, very hard. I didn’t sleep last night.”