A US resident who arrived in Jamaica on Wednesday morning reportedly drowned hours later while swimming in a river in Clarendon.

He has been identified as 54-year-old Leroy Hill, otherwise called ‘Tawney’, a welder from Arverne in New York.

Information reaching OBSERVER ONLINE is that Hill and his wife arrived at Norman Manley International Airport on a flight from New York around 2:27 am.

It is understood that sometime close to midday, he reportedly drove a motorcar to Sutton River in Sutton district in Clarendon with a female friend.

Police said the two reportedly went into the river, and Hill got into difficulties. Residents, after several attempts, rescued him from the water in an unconscious state and tried to revive him.

The residents also reportedly tried to access the same motor car he drove there to transport him to the hospital, but this proved futile.

The police were summoned, and on arrival, saw the lifeless body of the now-deceased lying on its back, covered with bushes about 60 feet from the river.

He was clad in black underparts, no shirt and a gold chain around his neck.

The residents informed the police that with their efforts to revive Hill being futile, they covered the body with bushes as it was in the sun. The scene was processed and the body removed.

The Chapelton police are probing the incident.