BROWN’S TOWN, St Ann — A search for two men, which began on Monday night, ended with the discovery of their bodies on a footpath along a lonely stretch of road in Home Castle, Brown’s Town, one tied with rope, both shot to death. The truck in which they had travelled, on an often-repeated mission to buy cattle to be resold for slaughter, was parked about a mile away. It had been ransacked.

The men have been identified as 76-year-old Samuel Johnson, a farmer and businessman who is also called Mass Ricky; and Richard Harris, who is believed to be in his early 40s. They are both from Watt Town in Brown’s Town.

According to residents, both men left home about 7:00 am Monday to purchase two head of cattle but did not return. The police were contacted. Family members had an inkling something was wrong as Johnson had not checked in with them as he usually did when doing business away from home.

According to deputy superintendent in charge of operations for the St Ann police Ryan Gayle, family members said Johnson would usually tell them when he had made contact with the other party and communicate with them throughout the entire process. On Monday night, however, there was only silence.

“Based on the report that came in about 9:00 pm, a search was done with about 16 people and the truck was found here,” Gayle said from the scene yesterday afternoon. The truck was discovered on Monday evening but poor lighting and heavy shrubbery posed a challenge in locating the bodies. The search party finally gave up about 1:00 am yesterday.

When the search resumed later yesterday, Johnson was found first — tied with rope, a tool usually reserved for the animals he bought. Harris was on the ground nearby. Both bodies were about a mile away from the truck. The vehicle was parked along a parochial road, far from the main road, in a deserted area with few houses.

A 9 mm spent casing was recovered at the scene.

Johnson’s daughter, Shernette Johnson Todd, believes robbery was the motive.

“One of the things that the police officer called me this morning asked me [was] how my father normally keeps his vehicle. I said it normally tidy and she said, ‘Well, something is wrong.’ When I went to look I realise that they dig out the dashboard; everything was ransacked and thrown on the ground,” she said.

Her father, she said, had been hard-working and kind. He made a living by farming and selling cattle later butchered for their meat.

“He’s very sociable so everybody in the community knows him. He’s hard-working; he always gets up [early] in the morning and he’ll be back home by one o’clock; and if somebody begs him to do something him go and do it. He doesn’t like to sit down,” she said.