Missing mom found deadBy CECILY ASSON Thursday, June 4 2009
THE BADLY decomposed body of mother of four Gail Joseph was found yesterday floating among thick mangrove in the Manzanilla River, three days after she went missing. Joseph’s daughter Daniella Boysie wept uncontrollably moments after positively identifying her mother’s body.
But while Joseph’s grieving family will try to put closure to this tragedy now that the body has been found, questions abound as to how Joseph met her death.
Police sources confirmed that a 37-year-old Belmont man, questioned and later released hours after Joseph went missing last Sunday, was re-arrested and is assisting them in their investigation.
Police said they are investigating reports that Joseph met a man on the popular social/dating internet site “Tagged” days before she went missing.
Forestry Division officials and police officers were in a boat searching for Joseph’s body along the Manzanilla River when they picked up a foul stench and later spotted her among the mangrove. It was about 10.30 am. Divers were called in and the body, clad in a black and red swimsuit, was retrieved.
The body was found about a mile away from the spot along Manzanilla Beach where she disappeared on Sunday at about 8 pm, while liming with a man. Following her disappearance, soldiers, police with sniffer dogs, Coast Guard officers and police in helicopters searched the land, sea and from the air for her.
It was reported that Joseph was last seen alive by her daughter Daniella on Sunday when she left their Mary Street, Siparia home. It is believed that she picked up a man from Belmont and then headed to Manzanilla for a day of relaxation on the beach. This man later told police that she left him to head to her car to get something but never returned. Joseph worked as the office manager at the law firm of Girwar and Deonarine on Court Street in San Fernando.
Daniella, her sister Terry and other relatives spent several tense minutes waiting while the divers and Forestry Division officials brought the body to land. Their wait ended in tears when Daniella confirmed the swollen body that was fished out of the river, was Joseph.
The District Medical Officer advised Homicide Investigations Bureau detectives, led by ASP Johnnie Abraham and Insp Stanley Ramdeen, that because of the advanced stage of decomposition, it could not be ascertained from a visual inspection if Joseph’s death was the result of foul play. The body was later removed to the Forensic Science Centre in St James where an autopsy will be carried out today.
A relative, who asked not to be named, told Newsday that Joseph was a born-again Christian who was divorced about two years ago and had at one time led an active church life even serving as secretary of the church she attended.
Daniella, who is a Sixth Form student at Fyzabad Anglican Secondary School, pleaded on Tuesday for the public’s help in locating her then missing mother. It was not known if Daniella would still sit her CAPE examinations in Geography and Biology scheduled for next Friday.
“The break- up of the marriage affected Gail badly so much so that she had to receive counselling. The church was working with her but after the divorce, she gave up everything and just stopped attending services,” the relative said. Another person, who identified herself as a friend of the family, yesterday said Joseph kept her social life separate from the family setting with her four daughters whose ages range from four to 17.
“We knew she had met someone over the internet and it was the first time she was going to meet him. None of us knew him,” the friend said. Also visiting the scene yesterday was Insp Fitzgerald George. Investigations are continuing.
