Andrew Stephens, drowning victim, would not have thought t he was going to his last picnic.

Residents of Georgetown were still in support of their counterparts above the Rabacca River after a weekend boating mishap that left one person missing, when they, too, were thrown into their own bereavement.





The air of somberness overcame the community when they learned that Andrew Stephens, a 65-year-old native of Georgetown who resides in the USA and who was home on vacation, became allegedly, this country latest drowning victim.





Stephens is the brother of Georgietha ‘Aunty G’ Nanton, well-known Georgetown-based cultural activist and social media administrator of the popular Facebook page ‘The Beauty of SVG’.





A report reaching THE VINCENTIAN said that Stephens along with relatives and friends had gone to the Chatoyer National Park at Rabacca ‘to cook’ (picnic), on Tuesday 15th August.





During the course of time, he indicated an interest in going to Drip for a swim. Residents of the North Central Windward and North Windward areas would tell you that Drip is not a safe place for swimming, though many have braved it to exhibit their (swimming) prowess.





Stephens, apparently against the advice of those who had accompanied him to Drip, entered the water but did not make it back out. The report is that a waved pulled him out and then under.





The disappearance, according to a relative, occurred around 5:15pm on Tuesday.





In confirming the drowning, a release (dated August 17) from the RSVG Police Force Public Relations and Complaints Department, said that the Police in the Georgetown district "are investigating the circumstances surrounding a suspected drowning that occurred on Tuesday 15 August 2023 at Rabacca Beach, Georgetown.”





According to the referenced release, "at 6:24 p.m. on Tuesday 15 August 2023, officers at the Georgetown Police Station received a report of a suspected drowning at the Rabacca Beach.”





The release continued, "A party of Police officers were dispatched to the scene and on arrival at the scene, eyewitness reported to the police that the deceased was bathing in the sea, appeared to have encountered difficulties and disappeared from view.”





A search for Stephens’ body was mounted but he was not found.





However, on Wednesday 16 August 2023, Commander of the Eastern Division, Superintendent of Police (SOP), Mr. Hesran Ballantyne, confirmed that Stephens’ body was recovered just before 9:00 a.m. on that day.

The body had washed ashore, along the rocky front of usually rough seas on the Rabacca Beach. The District Medical Officer was called to the scene and pronounced Stephens deceased.





Stephens is the third drowning here in the just over two weeks. His followed on the weekend drowning of Kenson Browne of Sandy Bay. Both drownings followed that of Nigerian medical student Michael Odu.

Odu drowned on August 1 in the area between Young Island and Fort Durvenette (Rock Fort).



