A 61-year-old man was found dead in Ebinboro around noon on Saturday, 9 days after he went “missing” while receiving medical attention at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.
iWitness News understands that foul play is not suspected in the death of the man, Selwyn Joseph aka Millie, of Hamilton, Bequia, whose body was found by youths along a bushy road in the West Kingstown community.
A source who saw the body said that its condition suggests that Joseph died recently, as there was minimal decomposition.
Now, questions are being raised about the effort that had gone into finding Joseph after he was believed to have walked out of the hospital with an IV line attached to his hand sometime before 11 p.m. on June 25.
In a Facebook post on June 26, the Ministry of Health sought the assistance of the public in finding him.
“Mr. Joseph was a patient in the Emergency Department at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) and left the department. He is currently disoriented and may be lost in a nearby community,” the post said.
“We are asking members of the public to be on the lookout and to assist us in ensuring his safe return,” the post further stated, asking people who might have seen Joseph to contact the hospital or the police.
“Hospital staff, along with Mr. Joseph’s family and the Police, are actively searching for him. We thank the public for your understanding, cooperation, and assistance in helping us locate him safely,” the post said.
Reports indicate that Joseph had been assigned to a room in the Emergency Department at MCMH. However, sometime after 10 p.m., a nurse redirected him to his room after realising he was going to another room in the department.
The nurse is said to have accompanied Joseph back to his room.
However, about an hour later, a nurse received a call from a police officer saying they had been informed that a man had been seen walking toward Edinboro with what appeared to be an IV line attached to his hand.
The nurses checked and realised that Joseph was not in his unit.
A nurse was dispatched along with an ambulance to look for the patient, who was not found in the Kingstown or Ottley Hall areas.
The police were informed of the development and issued a separate bulletin about the missing patient.
Police or health authorities are yet to comment on Joseph’s death.