Santa Cruz man allegedly drowns during New Year’s Day outing with friends

The lifeless body of a young father was pulled from the Waini River, North West District (NWD) – one day after he went missing while swimming with a group of friends.
The dead man has been identified as Owen Smith of Santa Cruz, Waini River, NWD, Region One (Barima-Waini). Based on reports received, Cruz joined friends on Monday for a New Year’s Day swim.

He reportedly plunged into the river at about 16:00h and never resurfaced thus resulting in his friends raising an alarm. They reportedly searched the area but after it got dark without finding Smith, the search was called off.
However, the search resumed on Tuesday. Hours into the search, the man’s body was recovered. Based on reports received, Smith sustained injuries to his head – injuries he might have received after hitting his head on an object in the water when he plunged.
His body was taken to the Kumaka Hospital at Moruca where a post-mortem is expected to be performed. Investigations are continuing.