Joint team probing report of body at bottom of Kaieteur Falls

A joint team from the Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Police Force was dispatched today to assess and potentially recover what appears to be a body from the base of Kaieteur Falls.

The discovery comes in the aftermath of the disappearance on September 1 of a tourist, Laleta Sivanand while she was on a tour of Kaieteur Falls.

A release from GINA today said that what was believed to be the body was seen by the Kaieteur National Park Rangers late yesterday afternoon in an area that had previously been submerged due to high water levels. Over the last week, water levels have subsided at the Falls, with a rocky area becoming exposed for the first time since the search began for the visitor who was reported missing on September 1, 2015.

GINA said that the Special Forces Team will be working with the Park Rangers in this new operation. Due to the logistics required and because of the sensitive nature of the operation, the Park has again been closed until the assessment and recovery effort is complete.

Late in the afternoon on September 1, 2015 it was discovered that one passenger from an Air Services Limited tour to Kaieteur Falls was missing after she left her group on the way back from the Falls. A search operation was immediately launched by the Kaieteur National Park Rangers. An expanded search was later led by the GDF and GPF, focusing on the base of the Falls and the surrounding gorge and trails, GINA said.