A Blueberry Hill, Linden businesswoman is missing after the boat she was travelling in capsized in the Takutu River on Friday night while returning from Brazil where she had gone to purchase goods.
The woman has been identified as Walletta Rigby, 38.
Enquiries by the police revealed that on Friday at about 5:30 am, Rigby and her friend, forty-eight-eight-year-old Shaunette Gonsalves, a housewife of Beverly Hills, Lethem, Central Rupununi had crossed the Takutu Bridge and gone to Bonfim, Brazil to purchase the goods.
About 10:30 pm on Friday, the women were on their way back in a small wooden boat, captained by an unknown Brazilian national.
Based on a report made by Gonsalves, while they were crossing the river, the boat capsized due to the weight and heavy current of the water, causing them to all end up in the water. Gonsalves said that she managed to grab onto a nearby tree branch that was hanging over the river. Upon checking, she did not notice Rigby, the boat captain or the boat.
On Saturday morning at 6 am Gonsalves said that while still holding onto the branch, she saw two unknown men passing in a boat and as she raised an alarm and was rescued by the men.
She afterwards made a report to the Lethem Police Station.
A search was carried out between 11am and 2:30 pm in the part of the river the boat was said to have capsized but neither Rigby nor the boat captain was found.
The police report further stated that the water is presently flowing at a speed of 40mph in the eastern direction and further checks are being made as investigations continue.
