The body of Collin Sealey, the prisoner who jumped into the Mahaicony River after escaping custody, was found along the foreshore of Mahaicony yesterday morning.
His body was found around 10am by a search party comprising police ranks, relatives and public-spirited persons on the shores at Pearl, Mahaicony, his niece, Lois Cooper said.
Sealey, 53, a fisherman of Zes Kinderen, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, was arrested during investigations into allegations of threatening behaviour, assault and indecent exposure.
According to police, he overpowered a policeman on Wednesday morning at the Mahaicony Police Station, as he was being moved from the lock-ups to the Cove and John Magistrate’s Court. “He ran to the bridge across the Mahaicony River from where he jumped into the river and is feared drowned,” police had said.
Cooper told Stabroek News that Sealey’s wife, Allison Leitch, was relieved at the recovery of the man’s body. She had taken the report of his disappearance very hard and knew that if he did not return home, she could not expect to see him alive again.
In September 2010, another prisoner had taken his own life in similar circumstances. Gordon Maxwell, 30, of Calcutta, Mahaicony, who had been charged with tax evasion, plunged into the river after running away from his police escort. His body was later found. He was not in handcuffs at the time and police had been criticised over the handling of the case, which triggered an investigation.
