The Bagotstown resident whose decomposing body was found floating in a trench alongside the Eccles Industrial Site road on Tuesday died by drowning, a post-mortem examination on Wednesday revealed.
According to a police official, the pathologist has given the cause of death as asphyxiation due to drowning, which indicated that no foul play was involved in the death of Ubert Howard. Howard was said to be in his sixties.
According to reports, youths cleaning the weed infested trench stumbled upon the bloated body on Tuesday morning and the police were immediately informed. No marks of violence were visible on the body.
Relatives had said that Howard was seen last Friday when he left the Bagotstown area for Providence to look after his pension book. They were puzzled as to how he ended up where he was found.
