Mazaruni River boat collision: Police, MARAD now join search for 2 missing men

A group of police ranks and an officer from the Maritime Administration (MARAD) have joined family members in searching for 35-year-old Troy Anthony Joseph and 43-year-old Cranston Davidson, who went missing during a boat collision on July 5 in the Mazaruni River.
This move comes on the same day Guyana Times published an article in which frustrated family members of the two missing men complained about the lack of support from the Police in the search for the two brothers-in-law.

Initially, the Guyana Police Force had reported that one man – 29-year-old Oswald Hudson Jr called “Saddie” of First Avenue, Bartica – lost his life while six others were rescued during a collision between two boats just before midnight on Friday, July 5 in the Mazaruni River, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).
However, the families of Joseph and Davidson, both from Agatash Village, Bartica, are insisting that the men were also on the boat with Hudson and have been missing for days.
While no mention was made of the missing men in the police’s initial report, the GPF said on Monday that on July 6, 9 and 10, ranks along with the Maritime Officer for Regional Police Division Seven conducted searches in the Mazaruni and Essequibo Rivers for the remaining two missing persons but to no avail.

Nevertheless, another team returned to the area on Monday to assist family members to the search.
“As of 09:30h today [Monday], a dedicated team of policemen led by Inspector Crawford, in collaboration with Mr Melville from the Maritime Administration, departed from Bartica Police Station. They are currently in the Essequibo River, conducting thorough checks in the ongoing search for the two missing persons,” the GPF said.
Based on initial police reports, Shavez Thomas, 29, a boat captain from Itaballi Landing, was returning home from Bartica with one passenger in this vessel
Meanwhile, Oswald Hudson Sr, 60, also a boat captain from First Avenue Bartica, was heading from Itaballi Landing to Bartica, carrying two minors, a pregnant woman, the now-deceased Oswald Jr. The two missing men were also in this boat.
The two vessels collided head-on at about 23:50h near BK Quarries Inc., Mazaruni River, throwing all the occupants into the water. Witnesses reported that after the collision, Oswald Jr. rescued one of the minors before he, Davidson, and Joseph went underwater and did not resurface.

Public-spirited citizens rushed to assist, retrieving six people from the water and transporting them to Third Avenue Beach. A search was launched, and Oswald Jr.’s body was found the following day.
Davidson’s sister, Felicia Edwards, told the Guyana Times on Sunday that the missing men worked at Echa Quarrie near Cuyuni Village and got paid late on the night of July 5.
“Cranston called his wife at 21:37h, saying he was waiting for a boat to come home. Troy also called his wife, Latoya, at 20:02h, saying he was in a vehicle heading to Itaballi. Cranston called again at 10:13 p.m., still waiting for the taxi from Puruni. At 10:25 pm, he called to say he was in a boat heading home, and his wife could hear the engine. Troy’s wife called him at 10:23 pm, and he said he was in the boat. After that, their phones went straight to voicemail,” the woman related.
Edwards said that at around 03:00h on Saturday morning, they received a phone call informing them that there was a boat accident and that Joseph, a father of three, and Davidson, a father of seven, were in the boat. She said they went to the hospital and the mortuary in search of the men but they were not there.
She said since then, they have been searching for the men but to no avail.
According to Edwards, her brother’s bag was even found floating near Gold Creek, Bartica during the search.
“We, the family of the missing men, are frustrated with the authorities and the Guyana Police Force. Only the families are searching day and night with no help from the police, and we are exhausted. We want to know why this situation is being dragged out for so long,” the woman related to this newspaper on Sunday.
She expressed her frustration with the police, stating that they are not receiving any assistance and are often treated with hostility.
“The boat captains should have been arrested and charged until my brother and brother-in-law’s bodies are found. When we inquire with the police, they are dismissive and say they can’t do anything until a body is found. But they are not even helping us search.”
“Mothers lost their sons, children lost their fathers, wives lost their husbands, and they are not doing anything. These people are human beings. Every day we are searching, hoping to find their bodies and nothing. Right now, we are thinking something isn’t right because both of these men are missing and at least one of them should have surfaced. This is 10 day and we can’t find them anywhere. The boat captains have to explain what happened. We have to assume the worst because we aren’t getting any answers,” the woman lamented. (G8)