Eleven days have passed and friends of Joshua “Ogla” Steven remain hopeful that he will be found.
The 25-year-old, from Cascade Valley Road, Cascade, is feared to have drowned.
Police and relatives said Steven, who also lived at Freedom Street in Cocorite, went for a swim with friends at Damian’s Bay, located along the north coast of Blanchisseuse on November 18.
Around 4.30 pm, Steven was with a group of friends swimming in the waters when, while approximately 15 metres out at sea, he encountered rough waters where he went under and disappeared. That weekend, the Met Office issued an adverse-weather yellow sea alert, which began from November 18–21. It said then that long period swells would mainly affect the northern coastal areas of T&T, in the form of occasional battering waves, especially during high tides.
When Steven went under the water, his friends made attempts to locate and assist him but he was not found.
The Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard was contacted and informed and they have been conducting searches for Steven since then and as recent as yesterday.
Speaking with Guardian Media yesterday, Steven’s friend Antonio said last Friday, the family got a call that a body washed up along the Blanchisseuse north coast.
“When his family got there and viewed that body, they said it was not him. First off, that body was headless and Joshua had steel in his legs and on that body there was none. This morning (Monday), a body was seen floating by the Waterfront in Port-of-Spain but it’s still not Joshua’s because that body had on a jersey and Joshua was bareback and with a pair of grey pants on.
“So, we are still hopeful and praying that his body is found so that he can get a proper send off. We are being told that the Coast Guard and others are still searching for him so we are hoping to get closure soon. It’s already sad as it is,” Antonio said.