Grieving relatives of Constable Clayton Salmon are led away from the scene where his body was found yesterday. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

THE body of Constable Clayton Salmon, the policeman who went missing last week Friday, was found yesterday in an abandoned well on March Pen Road - a volatile inner-city community in Spanish Town, St Catherine.

The well, said to be 40 feet deep, is located off a dirt track, a few hundred metres from the Tamarind Farm Prison Complex in the old capital, and about two kilometres from the canefield where Salmon's burnt car was found Monday along the Dunbeholden main road.

".The body was in a state of partial decomposition," said a detective from the Flying Squad at the scene of the gruesome find yesterday.

Salmon's body, according to an officer, was identified by the T-shirt that he was wearing when he disappeared. It had his moniker (Chris) written on the back, said the policeman.

"The licensed firearm Salmon carried with him is missing, and at this time we still cannot say what the motive for murder is," the officer added.

Relatives who were called to the scene cried openly as they grieved for their loved one.

"Tell me why. Why dem kill him and do him so? Mi miss mi brother," Salmon's sister said as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Salmon, who was assigned to the Hannah Town Police, disappeared on Friday when he, according to a police report, went to an undisclosed location. When he did not return as was expected he was reported missing by relatives.

The policeman's 1998 Silver Honda Civic motor car was found burnt out Monday in canefields owned by the Bernard Lodge sugar estate.

That search team included detectives from the Flying Squad, Operation Kingfish and police from the St Catherine North and South divisions, as well as residents from Johnson Pen - the community where Salmon resided.

The police, however, continued the search and found the body at about 3:30 pm yesterday.

Cops could not give a motive for the policeman's death, but Observer sources said he left his home to meet someone after receiving a telephone call. After he failed to return home he was reported missing.

-clarkep@jamaicaobserver.com

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