…car submerged in water

A FAMILY’S worst fears were confirmed on Monday afternoon, following the discovery of the lifeless body of taxi driver Lynsay Grant on the banks of the Adventure Canal, East Berbice, Corentyne at around 14:00 hrs.

The Grant family, of Adventure Village, was a bit worried when Lynsay,38, the head of the household, did not return as he usually does every day. And as the night wore on, and calls to his phone kept forwarding to voicemail, an uneasy felling came over the family that quickly turned into panic.

They mounted a search with family members checking as late as 04:00hrs Monday along the Adventure to Black Bush route where Grant, a part-time taxi driver, was last seen plying his trade. The family continued the search as dawn approached to no avail, and decided to make a report at the Whim Police Station a little after lunch.

However, at around 14:00hrs, a taxi driver called out to Natasha Ramborose, Grant’s wife, at their home a short distance away, indicating that a body was found by the roadside. Fighting back tears while speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Natasha said she jumped into a car and as soon as she reached the scene, she blacked out as she spotted her husband’s body. “When the car reach, I see people surrounding the area. And just as I meet where I could see, he look like he was sleeping, and people did crying. So I realise he was dead… I don’t remember what happened next, but they said I get blackout,” the woman related.

Ramborose said the next thing she recalled was seeing the mangled Black Toyota Sienta, bearing registration number HC 3695, being pulled from the canal next to where his body was found. Grant’s body was found approximately eight feet away from the edge of the canal, behind some flattened boulanger trees. Next to him, a short distance away, was a pillow he kept in the car. The car itself was submerged in the canal, its roof barely visible.
It is unclear how the body reached the banks of the canal. Some at the scene were of the view that he crawled out from the wreckage, while others are of the view that he was flung from the vehicle as it reportedly careened off the road and toppled, before ending up in the drainage canal.

His body was discovered by one Freeman Davis, called “Bad eye”, a farmer who went to check on his garden at around 13:15hrs. Davis told the Guyana Chronicle that he was in the garden clearing some bushes when he noticed that a part of the fence he’d put up to keep animals out was broken. His initial thoughts were that it was vandalised by persons to get to his boulangers, but as he investigated, he saw someone lying on the ground. “I see de person lie down deh, and meh call out, but he nah answer. And den meh remember persons seh Lynsay had on grey clothes. Suh, meh nah guh further; meh start hollah out and call people, leh dem come see,” Davis recalled.

Meanwhile, Grant’s mother, 64-year-old Kamela Bailey, called “Sister Bailey” said she tried calling him on Sunday to wish him a Happy Father’s Day. “But I didn’t get through. I went to him later in the day. Today we searched all over in Black Bush, because that’s where persons last saw him.”

As news of the man’s demise spread, his fellow hire car drivers, family and friends gathered at his home to comfort his grieving family. He was described as a jovial, caring, hardworking and exceptional man.