The body of a mother of two was taken out of a drain in Belle Vue on the West Bank Demerara Public Road on Thursday afternoon and the family and others in the community are unsure as to what might have led to her death.

Dead is 29-year-old Tonica Thomas of 144 Murphy Street West Bank Demerara. The woman is said to have a mental illness. Her body was discovered around 14:00hrs face down in the drain alongside the cane fields. The body was removed from the drain, by police, around 15:00hrs.

Thomas was well known by residents of communities on the West Bank, often seen traversing the road on a daily basis. She is also known for having once been a very successful businesswoman. Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, her sister, Nicola Carrington, said the family had often worried about Thomas owing to her roaming the streets. “Everybody knows that she walks, day and night she walks, and this was we biggest fear, we were afraid that when she walk something happen to she,” Carrington shared.

Carrington said it has been speculated that she could have been hit by a vehicle, or beaten by someone, as the drain Thomas was found in was a very shallow one. “We don’t know what happened, we don’t know. But some of the drivers on the road said they saw her on the road as recent as three hours before she died,” she said. Police are investigating the matter.