MAY DAY, Manchester — David Forbes, the uncle of nine-year-old Samantha Anderson, who was found in a tank here on Saturday, believes there is something suspicious about her death.

The girl was reported missing on Friday after leaving school for home. She was a student of Old England Primary.

There were speculations over the weekend as to whether the child drowned or was killed elsewhere and her body dumped in the tank.

"A some foul play," Forbes told the Jamaica Observer Central when contacted by telephone yesterday.

He said that there was heavy rain in the area on Friday and Samantha's uniform, school bag with her books, her shoes and underwear, were all dry when they were found by the side of the tank around 11:00 on Saturday morning.

The distraught uncle said relatives on the scene also suspected foul play in the death of the little one.

"It hard," said Forbes, who remembered his niece as a polite child who was part of her school and church choirs and who liked to watch television.

He told the Observer Central that the school's guidance counsellor visited the family on the weekend and offered some consolation. She is reported to have said that Samantha was in a happy mood at school on Friday.

The Manchester police said that a post-mortem will be done to determine the cause of death.