Missing woman, 76, dies in highway accident

Last Wednesday, relatives of Joyce Riley, 76, reported her missing. It turned out that Riley met her death while crossing the Churchill Roosevelt Highway close to Barataria. Reports say she visited her ailing husband, Darel Riley, at Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope on Tuesday and later on she wandered off.

Early Wednesday morning when WPC Navarro and PC Morris from the Emergency Response Patrol responded to an accident on the highway, they found Riley unconscious on the side of the road. A St Augustine man told police he was heading east along the highway when Riley ran across the road and into the path of his vehicle.

Paramedics were called in and she was taken to the Mt Hope hospital where she died due to injuries to her head. Riley’s nephew, David Roberts, was called in to identify the body.

Roberts told police his aunt showed signs of Alzheimer’s disease and may have wandered off after visiting his uncle at the hospital. He also said Riley and her husband, a Jamaican, lived in Balmoral Park, Chaguanas. They moved to TT 15 years ago, after living in the UK where Riley's three children and grandchildren reside.

Riley's children arrived in TT yesterday and are preparing for the funeral for their mother. They asked for privacy in dealing with her death.