TWO days after 19-year-old Chrisan Steele and her friend Omar Skyers were swept away by heavy water in Wag Water River at Castleton, St Mary, her body was found miles downstream by a farmer on his way to his farm on Saturday, around noon.

However, even after the continuation of an intense search — which began on Friday — Skyers’ body had not been found up to Saturday evening.

After learning that her daughter’s body was found, Allison Spratt burst into tears. At the same time, she was glad to have received some sort of closure and was grateful to the farmer, another resident, and firefighters who risked their lives by bringing Steele’s body across a river that appeared set to go in spate.

Barrington Shaw, the farmer who lives in a community residents refer to as Thousand Pen, located near Friendship Gap where Steele’s body was spotted on the bank of Flint River, told the Jamaica Observer that it was very important to get the body across the river before it began to rain heavily as that could have led to the body being washed away and possibly never being found again.

“I came down on the other side of the river to look about my farm and I saw the John Crow dem a fly so I said, ‘Something wrong over deh so.’ I had to make sure it was a body before I made an alarm,” Shaw said.

“A two time she wash weh, enuh. Remember seh a from Thursday she wash weh and lodge somewhere up suh, and then the river bring her come here,” he said, pointing out that the water had carried Steele’s body about six miles to the spot where he found it.

“Yesterday she was not at that spot. I saw something and said it look to me like somebody, and I want to rectify it. I called my daughter and told her, and we went over there and she call the police station.

“If dem did wait too long we would stay yah and see the river gone wid har; dat a di danger. The river was on the way to take away the body again. Like how she stay now, exposed, she would a go back underneath. When the river come down and seh him ready, only thing him a ask is who ready,” Shaw stated.

One woman told the Sunday Observer that the body travelled a far distance to end up where they found it.

“From Castleton, a whole heap a community you have to pass before you reach up here so. I feel good that they found her because one time a man did a try fi save some people up by Castleton and him wash weh; all now dem nuh find him. All soldier come dive and dem nuh find nothing at all. If the river did come down, most likely you wouldn’t find nothing again because when it go down a Devon Pen it would meet up with another river called Ugly River. Two river meet right there so,” the woman said.

Meanwhile, Spratt told the Sunday Observer that it was very difficult to explain her feelings.

“She is my first child. I can’t even tell you how I feel. When I just had that girl I didn’t see her — as she was born the nurse dem run with har. I was wondering if is a handicap baby or what. She born and weigh three pounds so they had to run go to the nursery with her. She was in the nursery for two months before she get discharge. The only thing I could do was go down there everyday go pray for her. When I saw her I called her ‘Mus mus’ because she did little. I never know she would live until she turn 19. Jah know, star,” the distraught mother said.

Skyers’ sister, Ann-Marie Skyers, said even though her brother’s body is still out there somewhere, she was glad that Steele’s body was found .

“It has been two intense days of searching. Today we came up on the body of the young lady but we are still trying to find the body of Omar. The Castleton police have been a great help; they have been with us for the past two days. Friends and family are here trying to find Mr Skyers but we still have hope. Once we found the young lady it gives us hope we will find Omar,” she said.

“Omar was a very jovial person. He was a father of one. He loved the river and always came to the river. It is just unfortunate that the river came down while he was here,” she said.

Annmarie Skyers speaking with the Jamaica Observer on Saturday. She said although the body of her brother, Omar, is still out there somewhere, she was glad that Chrisan Steele’s body was found.

Farmer Barrington Shaw tells how he found the body of Chrisan Steele in Flint River on Saturday, two days after she was washed away by heavy water in Wag Water River in St Mary.

Sergeant Dave Mclean (left) from Castelton Police Station and Barrington Shaw retrieve Chrisan Steele’s body from the bank of Flint River on Saturday.

A firefighter and residents cross Flint River on Saturday after the body of Chrisan Steele was found miles downstream from where she and her friend Omar Skyers were washed away on Thursday.