A young man, who is a soon-to-be father for the first time, allegedly drowned after he took a plunge during a routine fishing trip at Topoo Village, East Berbice, Corentyne on Wednesday afternoon.

Joseph Bownauth called “Lloyd”, 22, left just after noon with two friends to go fishing in the GuySuCo pump station canal aback of his hometown, Belvedere, when he disappeared under the water.
A carpenter by profession, he had a love for fishing and decided to try a new area, hoping to get a good catch for his family.

According to relatives, when the trio went to the canal, Bownauth decided to take a plunge from a bridge into the water at around 15:00 hrs. Reports indicated that when he jumped into the water, he resurfaced and started to “fight up” before going down again; never to resurface.

Known for his many “jokes”, his two friends thought he was ‘pulling one on them’ but after a few minutes went by and he did not re-emerge from under the water, they realised something was wrong.
They immediately raised an alarm and about three men from the community jumped into the water, looking for Bownauth.
Several other villagers joined the search party and, after about an hour and a half later, they managed to find his lifeless body.  Eyewitnesses who spoke with this publication related that Bownauth did not have any visible marks of violence on his body.
The body was taken to Ramoo’s Funeral Home, where it will be transferred to Fort Wellington for a post-mortem.

Meanwhile, Shermona Bownauth, the victim’s older sister, who spoke with this publication, said when she first heard what happened to her brother, she did not believe as she felt he was at home.
“When mommy and my other sister called, crying, I tell them not to worry, he probably joking and that he at home waiting…. But when I get home and he wasn’t there, I started to worry. Then a little while after, they found the body and it sink in that he is no more” she recalled.

The victim’s wife, Zureena Bacchus, who is in the first trimester of her pregnancy, was inconsolable and appeared to be in a state of shock as she stood back against a post at the funeral home with tears streaming down her face.

Bownauth was known to do a little of everything to make ends meet for his family. Police are investigating the incident.