THE swollen corpse of a boy, Avinash Colahar, one year and seven months old, of Affiance, Essequibo Coast was discovered early Monday morning in a drainage canal leading to Capoey sluice, also on the Essequibo Coast.

The toddler had been missing since Sunday afternoon and relatives said they suspected that he had fallen into the deep waterway, at the back of the yard in which he lived, after wandering from the house to play by himself.

His father was joined by public-spirited persons in several futile searches Sunday afternoon, before the Monday discovery of the dead body, leading to suspicion that the child had drowned.