Massara girls who drowned had regularly visited the pond to swim & play

March 28, 2024 | Guyana Uncut News | Georgetown, Guyana

The three girls that drowned on Tuesday, March 26, in Massara Village, North Rupununi, would often go to the pond in which they drowned to play and swim regularly since they reportedly knew how to swim.

This was revealed by the Toshao of Massara Lenny Moses when contacted. Dead are Nia Jefferys, 6, Michelle Jeffreys, 5, and Alicia Dorrick, 9. Nia and Michelle are sister’s, and Alicia is their cousin.

They lived close to each other.

Toshao Moses, during an interview, said: “Based on what the parents of the girls said is that they knew how to swim and that it was an everyday thing for the girls to go by the pond. There is a Fatpoke tree next to the pond. The girls go there every day with their dolls and books and play and then take a swim. Yesterday morning, i was made to understand that the girls left their home and went to the pond. They then went back home after, and their parents told them to get some sleep, but the girls went behind their parents back and returned back to the pond.”

The man said that the pond, which was dug back in 2015 by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), is about 1000 meters away from where the children lived.

“So, after they got back to the pond Michelle, the 5-year-old returned back home alone. Her mother said she was looking very scared and acting very strange but apparently she didn’t take it for anything, and the child didn’t say anything so she sent back Michelle to get her sister and her cousin and she went back to the pond, but she never returned back home, nor did the others.

It was when one of the mothers went to the pond to search for them. Michelle was seen floating. The other two were nowhere to he seen. So they suspected that the two drowned too. Divers went into the water, and they found another girl below the waters. So they kept searching for the third but weren’t finding her, and they wanted to give up because the pond is very deep, and as they dive further below, the water was affecting the divers’ ears. So we begged them not to give up the search, and they eventually found the third girl. It is unclear what exactly took place, but their books and dolls were under the Fatpoke tree.

The discovery was made around 5 something going onto 6. The pond is a catchment pond, and it’s also filled with fishes,” Moses further disclosed.

Commander of Regional Police Division Nine, Senior Superintendent Raphael Rose, on Tuesday confirmed the tragedy.

The commander had indicated that during their investigation, it was revealed that three children left their parents’ home and ventured to the Razor Grass pond for swimming.

Upon discovering their absence, their parents initiated a search, eventually leading them to the Razor Grass pond, where the bodies of the three girls were found in the water.