Body of missing child recovered

Colleen James feels a sense of closure, now that the body of her two-year-old child has been found.{{more}}

The body of Shalani Headley, which was swept away in the floods that ravaged the Cane Grove and Buccament areas on Christmas Eve night, was found on December 29, by members of the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force.

On December 24, James, her four children, her sister and uncle left their house in Cane Grove, after it began to flood, in order to seek help. While making their way to the main road, the group was caught in a flash flood which claimed the lives of Colleen’s 18-year-old sister Keslia and two-year-old Shalani.

James told SEARCHLIGHT that her baby’s body was found in the exact place where she had slipped out of her uncle’s grasp.

“The same exact place where she get away from him,” she said.

“We were right there on the tree and she was on the ground below us. She never go nowhere. She had her clothes on and everything”.

Although she feels that Headley’s body could have been found sooner, James is happy that her daughter’s body has been found. The Canadian resident indicated that she is trying to get help so that the body can be taken to Canada to be buried. Having lost all her travel documents when her house was flooded, James is not certain when she will return to Canada. However, she does not think she will return to St Vincent and the Grenadines very soon.

“I don’t want to come back. Well, I will come back, but not for now. I’ll come back if something happens to my mom or somebody close to me,” she told SEARCHLIGHT.

“Maybe, later on when I am healed. Maybe”.

The woman, who indicated that she travelled with her children every year, said that her three other children do not want to travel ever again.

James noted that her other children, who were also caught in the flood waters, are doing fine.

However, she added that they get scared when it begins to rain heavily.

James is grateful to residents in the area, who helped to search for her daughter and sister, Keslia, whose body was found on Christmas morning, hours after being washed away.

She also thanked persons who helped to clean her mother’s house, which was filled with mud and water, after the incident.

Stella James lost both her daughter, Keslia and granddaughter, Shalani, but indicated that she is “trying to be okay”.

Keslia, who was a student of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College, will be buried tomorrow at the New Grounds Methodist Church.(BK)