Mulgrave residents relieved

Residents of Bent Town, a section of Mulgrave district, St Elizabeth, are breathing a sigh of relief after the decomposed body of 88-year-old Kenneth Brown, the senior citizen who went missing from his home on December 18, was removed from a sink hole in his community.

Brown’s body was removed on Wednesday afternoon by two community members, Vivian Barham, and his cousin Leslie Lewis.

“Mi a one a di persons who find him but the police dem did a sey dem don’t believe seh a body inna the hole, and seh it could be a dead animal,” Barham said.

“Wen wi go back a di hole pon Wednesday, and the soldier dem come, me and mi cousin go down inna the hole wid rope, and wi tek picture and video of the body and come back out and show dem seh a nuh lie wi a tell, but dem still refuse fi go dung deh, suh mi an mi cousin just mek up wi mind and tek him out,” he added.

One community member, who gave her name only as Sharon, told The Gleaner that she and other family members had been affected by the foul odour coming from the sink hole where Brown’s decomposed body was located.

“We did kinda a start panic, because after we hear say the police them come and left the body, and then we hear say them a charge the family $500,000 to remove the body, which we know say them don’t have, we did a wonder how long the body going stay in the hole,” added Sharon.

“When the breeze blow, a that time the scent rise up from the gully and some man in the area did start wonder if them did have to seal up the hole with the body.”

The woman said she knew Brown for quite some time and that this was not the first incident where he had wandered away from his home.

“A long time me know Maas Kenneth and we know that him always a stray from him yard and end up all over the place. But is the first time him ever missing so long, a that make we know say something wrong.”

Reports are that Brown went missing for over two weeks. His body was discovered inside the sink hole on New Year’s Eve by one of his sons, who travelled from the Corporate Area to the community after hearing about his father’s disappearance.