LAST evening, members of the Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Police Force were enroute to Kaieteur Falls where they plan to rappel down to the gorge in an attempt to retrieve a body believed to be missing tourist, Laleta Sivanand. The discovery comes in the wake of her disappearance on September 1 while on a tour of Kaieteur Falls.
On Saturday, officials received word from Kaieteur National Park rangers that they had spotted a body in the gorge of the falls, which they suspected to be that of the missing woman.
It was confirmed yesterday that the remains are indeed that of the woman, given the attire she wore at the time she went missing.
Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman, who also has oversight responsibility for the management of the nation’s natural resources, confirmed to the Guyana Chronicle that his ministry had also received said information and that a team was on its way to the area to retrieve it.
The minister explained that it is suspected that the remains of the woman would be in an advanced state of decomposition, given the time she was reported missing.
Asked about the likelihood of burying the body on location or bringing it to the city, Minister Trotman said that the government, through the relevant agencies, will try its best to ensure that the remains are brought out of the area, so that the woman’s family can accord her a decent burial.
Trotman said the team will take some time to meet to the area, as they have to do some trekking before moving into the gorge, after arriving at the park by plane.
Persons familiar with the terrain said that the team will reach the location sometime today.
Up to yesterday, it was reported that the inclement weather in the area would also impact on the team’s achieving its goal.
Gyaneshwarie Sivinand reportedly plunged to her death earlier this month, while accompanying several other persons on a tour to the Kaieteur Falls.
The woman did not indicate to any relative that she was going to the location, and it was only after she was reported missing that contact was made with her family, who only then became aware that she was in the interior location.
Persons on the tour with her said she had been very uneasy throughout the flight; she’d been crying and generally appeared to be in distress.
However, it was not her first visit to the area, according to persons close to her.
On the day the woman disappeared, she and the other tourists had visited the Falls and while they were heading back to the airstrip, she reportedly made an about turn and jumped to her death
When it was realised that she was not among the other tourists, an alarm was raised, and a search party went looking for her but came up empty-handed.
There are unconfirmed reports that the woman was having relationship issues, and had planned to travel out of the country the same week that she disappeared.
After she was reported missing, the GDF Special Forces joined the search and completed a search of the gorge below Kaieteur Falls to no avail.
The Kaieteur National Park was temporarily closed as investigations were being led by the Guyana Police Force.   Additionally, there were immediate moves to review the Park’s operational protocols to ensure the continued safety of visitors to the magnificent site.