The body of missing Special Anti Crime Task Force police officer, Richard Taylor, was found tied to an engine block in a remote pond on the Worthy Park estate complex at Lluidasvale near Ewarton in St Catherine, police said yesterday.

Police searchers, acting on a tip, went to an area known as Blister Hole and were immediately assaulted by a foul odour which alerted them to the decomposing corpse of the slain cop.

The Spanish Town Crime Unit was notified of the gruesome discovery and the body retrieved from the pond with the help of personnel from the Jamaica Fire Brigade. An on-the-spot post mortem revealed that death was caused from wounds inflicted by gunshots and a knife.

In the meantime, the police say they are still interrogating several persons taken into custody last Wednesday in connection with Taylor’s disappearance. The police are also seeking a man from Duxes district in St Catherine where the cop lived. The man is believed to be an associate of Taylor and was allegedly seen with Taylor shortly before his disappearance.

The Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), the police information arm, said Taylor was last seen getting into a motor vehicle with three persons about 10:30 pm on Monday in Duxes district, Point Hill.

When Taylor did not return to his home, a report was made to the police and a frantic search launched.

The car that Taylor was last seen entering was found with bloodstains in its interior, police said, raising fears that the cop had been killed.

Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of crime Mark Shields expressed his condolences for the loss to the police force and vowed that every effort would be made to capture the perpetrators.

“Any murder is bad but we think the murder of a police officer is particularly abhorrent, and we will be taking every step that we can to bring those people to justice,” Shields said.