Unidentified body found
floating in Marigot Bay
MARIGOT--The lifeless body of a man who was found floating in the bay of Marigot was brought ashore on the beach at Le Pirate Residences, Marigot, around 10:30am, after authorities were alerted.
As two Gendarmerie divers from Brigade Nautique brought the body ashore, a large crowd had gathered at the cemetery parking lot hoping to get a close view of the deceased man, but Gendarmes prevented any close access.
Gendarmerie forensic experts and emergency medical staff inspected the body, which was already in the rigor mortis stage, before it was taken away on a stretcher to an ambulance. Vice president Pierre Aliotti was also there.
Gendarmerie spokesman Capitaine Stéphane Aurousseau estimated the man, a black male of average height who appeared to be in good physical condition, to be in the 50-60 age range with a greying beard. There was no immediate evidence of any physical injuries that might indicate he had been in a fight.
Aurousseau said the body might have been in the water for about 10-14 hours.
Forensic officials had covered the man’s outstretched hands and his feet with plastic to protect them, ahead of taking prints later. Divers had also searched the sea bed where he was found in the hope of finding clues to his identity, but came up with nothing.
Aurousseau said an autopsy would determine the cause of death. He added that no missing person report for a man fitting the description had been filed at the Gendarmerie during the last two days.
There was no indication of up to press time whether the man was local or from another island, and no one had come forward to say they knew him. One local woman accompanied the ambulance to the morgue on suspicion she might have known who the man was, but that answer could not be obtained either.
