Dead for love of the sea

SEVENTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD Neville Boland could not swim but he had a love for the sea waters and would go every Sunday for a "dip."

Relatives believe that was Boland's own way of finding relaxation every Sunday before he attended church service.

However, this Sunday evening, Boland's body was found floating in the seawaters of Embacadere, San Fernando, near to his home by a villager.

Yesterday, Boland's nephew, Dexter Wilkes, said “I could not understand it. None of us could understand it but my uncle just had a routine he did for years and we all respected it. He did not go swimming, it was just for a dip in the waters.”

According to a police report, Boland left his family home at about 3 pm and headed for the sea.

Wilkes said, “He said where he was going but he did not have to say because he had been doing this for years. After he took a dip in the water. He would return home to eat and then get ready for church.”

Wilkes said he learned of his uncle’s death when a resident came screaming in the village that the body of a man was floating in the seawater.

“I did not think it was my uncle until later on, someone else identified him. I could not believe what I was hearing.”

Wilkes said his uncle was not a swimmer and would only go for a dip in the sea.

“He would usually go in the water and let the water rise to his chest. He would not dare go into the deep parts, so I really don’t know what happened that day. He is a very cautious man when it comes to the water.”

Wilkes said the family now awaits the results from an autopsy which would determine how his uncle died.

An autopsy will be done today at the San Fernando Mortuary. San Fernando Police are investigating.