Boy, 7, found floating in Sophia canal

It has been widely accepted that there will always be unguarded moments in one’s life and this was clearly the case for a Sophia mother who lost her only child during one such period.

Sophia canal

Although she is not well known in her area, many could attest to the fact that they have never seen Zon Parks anywhere without her son, seven-year-old Dacwaun Sutherland.
On Wednesday, when persons saw the lad walking through ‘B’ Field, Sophia, and some sections of ‘C’ Field, they found it a bit strange but didn’t bother to question the child. Many are now regretting this.
At around 07:10 hours yesterday, Sutherland’s almost naked body was pulled from a canal in ‘B’ Field.
The lad’s mother told this newspaper that sometime around 13:00 hours on Wednesday she sent her son home to take some perishables which she had bought earlier in the day.
The woman said after she went home from work and did not see her son, she began a frantic search around the area, but to no avail. The woman said she even asked persons around the neighborhood if they had seen her son but no one whom she had asked saw the child.
Zon Parks said as night fell she made a report to the Turkeyen Police station but continued her search into the night.
According to the lad’s mother, after all her searches came up empty handed she went home and retired to bed. However early yesterday morning she continued her search. It was while walking through ‘B’ Field, Sophia, that she heard persons talking about the body of a boy having been spotted in a trench. She immediately headed for the location.
“I go to the trench whey I see de crowd and I see meh son floating, he ain’t had on he pants and shirt, he just had on he brief and he slipper went floating in the trench.”
Parks recounted that when her son left her workplace he was clad in a pair of camouflage trousers and a white vest. However his clothes were not recovered. The woman said the police were summoned to the area and her son’s remains were subsequently removed.
Meanwhile, persons in the area who spoke to this newspaper said that the child was last seen alive sometime after 17:00 hours on Wednesday.
One woman said she saw the boy around 13:30 hours with two water bottles in his hand. Another woman said sometime after 16:00 hours on Wednesday she noticed the two water bottles floating in the canal.
“If he de fall in there we woulda hear something, and a lady say she see he after five o’clock on de corner and I see de bottles deh long before five.”
Some expressed the opinion that the child may have been killed and dumped in the canal.
One resident who lives opposite where the child’s body was found said late Wednesday evening she went a few yards away to wash her mats and didn’t notice anything unusual in that area.
In addition, many residents reflected that when they noticed the child by himself on Wednesday they found it somewhat strange.
“Every day I does see da lady with the child, you don’t ever see he or she alone, if she going to work she got he, anyway she go she got he… but they right they does always got da unguarded moment and it cost she she only child,” one woman lamented.
In the meantime, the police are awaiting results of a post mortem examination to assist with their investigations.

Friday, July 02, 2010