THE Police Federation yesterday posted a half-million-dollar reward for information that could help them find missing Detective Constable Devon Pearson, as a large search party spent the entire day combing the banks of the Rio Cobre and Caymanas Bay areas of St Catherine without success.

Police, who appeared convinced that Pearson is dead, said their investigations led them to the area and they believe his body is buried there.

“We would …like to find the body before it turn skull and bone,” one of the Pearson’s colleagues at the 100 man Police Station in Portmore remarked. “We could at least give him a decent burial.”

Pearson did not show up for work last week Wednesday night after signing off duty on Tuesday morning. His car, a blue Nissan Bluebird, was found in a remote part of the Caymanas Bay area with the keys in the ignition, triggering fears among his colleagues that he had been killed. Pearson was in possession of his service weapon when he signed off.

Yesterday morning, the search party, led by Superintendent Roy Boyd of the Portmore police and consisting of 30 cops from the Portmore and Central Village stations, four Jamaica Defence Force soldiers, members of the Caribbean Search Centre and seven civilians, left the Central Village Police Station a few minutes after 9:00 am and drove through the Big Lane community of Central Village until they reached the banks of the Rio Cobre.

Armed with cutlasses, shovels and other tools, the cops trudged through the heavy brush along the river bank with the hope of finding the missing policeman’s remains.

“We have to rely on our noses and Mr John Crow (vultures), ’cause we just haffi say him dead,” one policeman remarked as he chopped his way through the bush.

Among those helping the police was Pearson’s girlfriend, who appeared calm under the stressful circumstances. Other civilians said they heard the call and decided to help the cops in their quest to find the detective constable.

“It could have been me or somebody for me. I don’t know the brother but I feel concerned and decided to help,” one of the civilians told the Observer. None of the civilians wished to be identified.

The search party also went deep into the heavy bushes off Lakes Pen Road, where they found a recently burnt-out vehicle. However, after searching for hours in the afternoon rain, there was still no sign of their colleague’s remains.

Frustrated but not defeated, the search party then headed into the mosquito-infested Caymanas Bay area, where the car was found, in an apparent last-ditch effort to find Pearson.

Yesterday, the Police Federation, which represents rank and file cops, asked anyone with information that could help in locating Pearson to call 119, Crime Stop at 1-888-991-4000, the Greater Portmore Criminal Investigation Branch at 949-8431, the Police Federation at 922-4983 or 922-9062, or the nearest police station.