THE lifeless body of Clement Shultz was found submerged in water, a fallen tree lying across his body at Stephenburg, Canje River.

The discovery was made by his wife, Ann Johnson, who had mobilised a search party after her spouse did not return home for lunch last Thursday.

The 45-year-old logger and cash-crop farmer had left his home in his wooden boat to cut two lumber posts from a nearby forest.

However, all evidence indicate that after he had sourced the posts, he was in the process of clearing the forested area, so as to allow his boat to have better access of the waterway as he paddled along.

His son, Winston Johnson told the Guyana Chronicle that after his father had cut one of the trees, he was subsequently hit by a ‘dead’ tree.

Relatives are saying that if someone had been with the deceased at the time of the accident, he may have lived as help would have arrived sooner.

As things stand, it was not until Friday that the body was located by relatives, and again, it wasn’t until several hours later that the police and his nephew, Deburn Gallay, were able to access the area where the accident occurred.

The body was later transported from Stephenburg in the Canje Creek area to New Amsterdam, a distance of about 100 miles, where an investigation was launched.

After conducting an autopsy at the New Amsterdam Hospital mortuary on Monday, Government Pathologist Dr. Vivikanand Brijmohan reported that the cause of death was “unascertainable”, due to the level of decomposition.

The deceased leaves to mourn his wife, four children, his sister Janet Gallay and other relatives. He is scheduled to be buried on Thursday.