By Elesha George
The police are carrying out an investigation to determine why a 49-year-old All Saints woman was found dead inside a vehicle near Potworks Dam yesterday.
Gwendolyn Williams’ body was discovered inside a grey CRV parked near the waterside of the reservoir, known to locals as ‘Dam Road’ – one of the older routes that would have been used to get to the village of Bethesda.
Until investigators have evidence to suggest otherwise, and to refrain from speculating on the events leading to her death, Police Public Relations Officer Frankie Thomas said investigators are treating the incident as a case of sudden death.
“I can’t go into details as to why the vehicle is positioned where it is positioned, and why the deceased chose to drive and come here – all that will form part of the investigation as we continue to probe this particular incident,” he explained.
Prior to discovering her body, Thomas told Observer the woman’s relatives had reported her missing on Monday at around 2pm.
“They did report to the police that she went missing and it is a concern for them, somewhat of an unusual departure, and so that created some concern and raised some anxiety among family members and hence they took the right steps to report that matter to police,” Thomas explained.
The All Saints Police Station, where the missing person report was filed, initiated a search operation, but it yielded no results until the discovery of Williams’ body. The woman’s body was reportedly discovered by someone who uses the area to burn coal.
Officers from the Freetown and All Saints police stations, and members of the Serious Crimes Unit, responded to the report. The police arrived on the scene shortly after 1pm yesterday and found the body slumped over inside a vehicle. Williams was pronounced dead by a doctor at 2.47pm.
Inspector Thomas called for patience from the public and media, urging them to allow the police to conduct a thorough investigation.
He also took the opportunity to stress the importance of vigilance and seeking professional help in cases of abnormal or concerning behaviour among family members.
“I also want to appeal to relatives and family members, if at any time you realise there is something abnormal happening with a family member, seek professional help as early as possible, so that at the end of the day we can avert certain circumstances of these types of reports that we would have received,” he added.