Relatives believe ‘iniquity’ involved in disappearance of seven-year-old in swimming expedition
FOUR days after seven-year-old Devon Gibson plunged into the Demerara River from the Kingston jetty in Georgetown, his body is yet to be recovered, as family members and relatives await word of developments in this regard at their Lot 9-10 Queen Street, Cummingsburg (Tiger Bay) home in Georgetown. Up to press time, the boy’s body had not been recovered, even after the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Coast Guard had combed the waters on Monday.
The man who had accompanied the children to the jetty has since been placed on $10,000 station bail. He was, up to yesterday, assisting the Brickdam police with investigations; and the boys involved in the incident have also given statements on what had transpired on Sunday.
Accompanied by a group of six children and an adult male, the Form One student of St Margaret’s Primary School had left home on a swimming expedition at the Kingston jetty, just behind the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC); and after he had plunged into the water, he had failed to re-surface.
His relatives have since conducted extensive searches, but all have, so far, been fruitless.
Gibson’s grandmother, Isolita Agard, 58, the guardian of the child, told the Guyana Chronicle she understands that the group went to swim, and her grandson did not return since he had encountered difficulties, while members of the group were rescued by passersby after the man who had gone with the children observed what was happening.
She noted that Gibson had never previously gone to that area to swim. Moreover, he could not swim, but was last seen at about 15:30 hrs on Sunday playing, as usual, with children in the community. She became aware that he was missing after her calls for him had gone unanswered; then she received the news that a child was missing after a swimming expedition.
The elderly woman disclosed that six boys from the community, accompanied by an adult male, had left for the Kingston jetty unknown to her, and one of them later told her that he was chased home by a passerby who knew him, but the others remained there on Sunday.
Isolita Agard had been the guardian of Gibson and his sisters, aged 11 and 14, after their mother had gone overseas. Gibson’s mother has since been informed of the incident, and is expected in the country shortly.
There were mixed emotions yesterday as a group of Gibson’s relatives accompanied this newspaper to the Kingston jetty, where there were markings on the jetty itself in cream water paint, which narrated how the seven-year-old had gone under water without surfacing.
Visibly upset, relatives explained that when they visited the jetty on Monday morning, there were no such drawings, and when they returned to the location around midday, they saw what appeared to be a story of how Gibson met his demise.
It is unknown who had painted the picture of the incident, but his relatives are furious, since they believe that foul play or some form of sacrifice was involved in Gibson’s apparent demise. They are of the opinion that he was deliberately lured to the Kingston jetty for what they believe were “works of evil” committed by the family of the man who had accompanied the children to the seawall.
Gibson’s relatives said they would be returning in their numbers to the location for a vigil, and are hoping that his body would he found soon, so they can give him a proper farewell and have some closure to what had transpired.
They are also urging the police to re-arrest the man who was placed on bail, as well as to interview the children who were saved to determine what course of action to take, since they believe that Gibson’s disappearance was not natural.