MAY PEN, Clarendon — Relatives of an elderly man from the Longwood section of this parish are in mourning after he fell to his death in a gully that runs alongside his yard.

The incident, which happened about 6 o’clock on Monday evening, has come as a shock as the gully did not contain much water and the deceased, 75-year-old Myron Cole, was not ill at the time of his death.

For his stepdaughter Carlene Johnson-Sutherland, the day began like any other. Cole, she said, spent time with his friends, having fun, unaware of the tragic turn of events the evening would bring. “About 5:30 pm he came in while I was in the kitchen preparing dinner and he gave me a hug and said, ‘Wah happen, mi daughter, you nuh done cook yet?’ And I said, ‘No, the rice soon done, it steaming down’. He then went inside to lay down and my mother went in and asked him to close the window because the rain was falling. He went outside and closed the window because it couldn’t close properly from inside. Coming back around the house the banana was hanging down and he took up a stick and I think while taking up the stick that’s when he lost his balance and fell,” she explained.

Johnson-Sutherland said about an hour later her mother grew suspicious when Cole was nowhere to be found. “When it reach about 7 o’clock my mother start to ask where is he, because him nuh miss news. She was outside making a cornmeal pudding for him. She started calling ‘Myron, Myron,’ but she not hearing him,” she said. “About 7:30 I was in my room watching the news and she came and knock on my window and said she can’t find Myron. Mi say, how you mean you can’t find him, mine him outside with the guys dem. And she said no, all his friends out there and she nuh see him.”

Family members then began a frantic search which eventually led to the discovery of Cole’s lifeless body sometime after 8 o’clock. “My sister-in-law start to peep over the gully, which is about five feet deep, and used the phone light and that’s when she saw one of his foot. [Then] she saw the entire body and alerted us. His best friend jumped in the gully and said him dead. Mi say, you sure? And him say yes. He was there for about two hours because nobody heard anything. If we had heard any sound we could have gone to his rescue,” his stepdaughter said, adding that she was not sure if he died immediately or if he drowned in the shallow body of water in the gully.

Cole’s long-time friend, Samuel Stewart, described him as a jovial person. “He was my friend and we lived here for 40-odd years. We had a good relationship and we get along well. We make jokes and talk and he was very nice to the community. Everybody will miss him. We miss him to our heart. All I can say is may his soul rest in peace and God be with him,” said the senior citizen.

“I’m just trying to be strong for my family because the Lord giveth and He taketh away. I’m just lost for words right now, but the Lord is giving me strength,” said a distraught Johnson-Sutherland.

The Clarendon police have ruled the incident death by misadventure.