ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica – Police are probing a suspected case of drowning involving a woman, whose body was found on Thursday in a river, four days after she was reported missing in Siloah, St Elizabeth.

Police named the woman as Kasheba Brown, 23, otherwise called “Kash”, a resident of Siloah district in northern St Elizabeth.

Councillor Audie Myers (People’s National Party, Siloah Division) told OBSERVER ONLINE that Brown’s body was retrieved by citizens from a tributary of the Black River about 1:00 pm on Thursday.

Police confirmed that citizens found the body and alerted them.

Myers, who said he knew Brown, reported that the community is “devastated” following her death.

“The body was found by the citizens in the river behind the Siloah Basic School. She is originally from Union, but she was also in Windsor (area in Siloah) too. It is very unfortunate for a person who we know from when she was a little child until she reached this age and she has lost her life in this manner, it is a sad story for the community and the family,” he said.

Reports suggest that Brown drowned after she went swimming in the river near the Windsor Bridge on Sunday.

A search was organised by residents and ended on Thursday when the body was found.

On Wednesday, residents blocked the roadway in the community, as they demanded assistance from the police to conduct the search.

Myers commended the residents for locating the body to give Brown’s family closure.

“It is a devastating situation. We can bring closure to this, because the body has been found and I want to salute the citizens from the area – Thornton, Williamsfield, Windsor, Siloah – who came out in their numbers to assist in finding the body. I want to thank the security forces also for their assistance, but it was the residents who were resolute in looking for her until it got dark and up early searching,” he explained.

– Kasey Williams