Police in The Bahamas are seeking to identify a child, whose body, clad only in underwear, was found in a pond near the Oakes Field Sports Centre Golf Academy on Tuesday.
Police said they believe the child had been there for at least 24 hours. He is one of three persons who reportedly drowned on Tuesday.
Police press liaison officer, Chief Superintendent, Chrislyn Skippings, told reporters they had received a report late on Tuesday regarding the discovery of the body.
She said officers responded and discovered the “body of a male partially submerged in the pond here,” and that “the body appears to be that of a child within the ages of 10 to 12.”
The police said they are trying to determine the identity of the child and that prior to the discovery had not received any reports pertaining to a missing child.
“I wish to send a firm message to parents that you need to know where your children are. You need to ensure that your children are always with a responsible adult,” Skippings said, adding the police have a zero-tolerance approach when it comes to child neglect.
“If our investigation reveals that (in) this particular incident that there was some form of child neglect you will see the parent or parents being charged in connection with this matter. We have a zero-tolerance approach when it comes to our darlings, the children. Children are our future, and we are supposed to look out for these children,” she added.
Meanwhile, police have also confirmed that two people including a woman, drowned on Tuesday.
In the first incident, police said a woman on Andros died after attempting to rescue a child who was drowning. A man was able to rescue the child, but the woman was found in an unresponsive state a short time later. She was taken to the local clinic, where she was pronounced dead.,
In the second incident, the body of a boy, who police on Grand Bahama had been searching for since Monday, was pulled from waters in Deadman’s Reef.
“On Tuesday … shortly after 5 p.m., a team of officers along with other individuals assisted with the search of the water near Paradise Cove, Deadman’s Reef, where the lifeless body of a juvenile male was pulled from the waters,” police said.
CMC
