THE quiet West Bank village of Stanleytown went into deep mourning early yesterday morning following the discovery of the decomposed remains of Leo Alleyne.

The 46-year-old had left home on the evening of November 21, 2008, after his wife and children retired to bed.

He was watching television about 10.20pm that evening and left home and disappeared.

Several search parties were launched but these failed to find Alleyne who had expressed frustration at being out of a job.

“He used to say that he was fed up living because he could not find work but we never believed he would actually take his own life in such a way,” his daughter, in tears, said yesterday.

Police said at about 07:30h yesterday the decomposed body of Alleyne, of 56 Church Street, Stanleytown, West Bank Demerara, was found among some bushes in the Stanleytown backdam.

A cement sling was seen tied to a limb of a tree within the bush and a bottle suspected to contain a poisonous liquid was found next to the remains, Police reported.

Leo Alleyne’s wife had reported him as missing to the police on November 21, 2008.

Relatives yesterday said that they searched the backlands for Alleyne and even made a publication, and were shocked when a resident who went looking for his cows discovered the remains.

“Even for the holidays we always had the hope that he would return home to be with us; now this is too much to bear,” a relative said.

When the Guyana Chronicle visited the home yesterday scores of relatives and neighbours had gathered to comfort Alleyne’s wife and his five children, all overwhelmed by grief.

Family members said they recognized Alleyne’s remains by the clothing he was wearing.

The police said a post mortem is scheduled for today.