SNIVELY PRYCE, the cross-dresser who was accused of impersonating a female police officer and fleeced several Jamaica Constabulary Force members of thousands of dollars, is dead.

He was the same man who was earlier in the year given a thrashing in Falmouth, Trelawny after he was seen dressed in women’s clothes while awaiting public transportation.

The 21-year-old man, who also went by the name ‘Indiana Lawrence’, died on Saturday, June 2, at the Kingston Public Hospital after being admitted there “critically ill” last month, Senior Superintendent Calvin Benjamin of the Criminal Investigations Bureau headquarters told the Observer yesterday.

Benjamin said the police was informed that the elusive Pryce, who was said to be from Port Maria in St Mary, was admitted to Ward 1A of the hospital.

“He died on Saturday afternoon,” Benjamin confirmed. “He was not formally charged but he was the suspect. At this time it appears that the investigation will not go any further,” said Benjamin.

A police officer who guarded Pryce said that the “scrawny-looking” Pryce appeared weak and in pain. Pryce was confined to his bed and was on a drip, the policeman said.

“He hardly talked and he seemed mostly in pain,” the officer said.

Pryce came to national prominence last month when the police released his name and photo to the media, seeking the public’s help to find his whereabouts.

The police believe that Pryce made telephone calls to members of the JCF pretending to be a senior female officer, while asking for donations for needy officers. He supplied the officers with a bank account number and instructed them to deposit the money into that account.

Pryce was convicted on June 5, 2006 on similar charges and given a suspended sentence, the police said.

On April 27 a man believed to be Pryce was beaten by an outraged mob after he was spotted parading around Falmouth, Trelawny, dressed in women’s clothing. The cross-dresser had to be rescued by the police and was taken to the hospital, but later disappeared.

Pryce gave the unsuspecting police a fake address for himself and a bogus workplace for his mother, after being rescued, then slipped from their grasp before they realised that he was the man they were searching for.

The cops found out that Pryce was indeed the alleged conman they wanted when the media published his picture.

The police said they had identified a suspect from Pryce’s beating but could proceed no further as Pryce could not be found.