While everyone got in the mood for one of the “most magical times of the year” there was something ugly waiting to be discovered at the Choc Beach just two days before Christmas.
Chester Aimable* didn’t know how to react when a close friend called him on Friday, December 23 with news that he’d come across a dead body. He was at a loss for words and even considered that perhaps his friend was playing some kind of sick prank.
The unpleasant phone call continued and the serious tone in his friend’s voice told him he should listen closely.
“We would go to that beach every day, my friends go there more often than I do,” Chester told the STAR. “My friend called and told me he was there all week, from Tuesday to Friday and he saw the same vehicle parked there the entire time. He felt something was off because the vehicle had been parked in the same spot for so many days so he decided to check it out.”
“When he looked through the back he saw a body but wasn’t too sure what he saw,” Chester continued. “You know when you see something but your mind plays tricks on you? That’s when he called me. He was like, “Chester, I think I just saw a body.” I was like, “Dude are you serious?” He said, “Yeah I just saw a body by the beach,” I was almost speechless.”
Even though there was plenty of room for doubt in his mind, especially considering how familiar he was with the beach in question, Chester says he jumped in his car straight away and drove toward the beach.
“I live across from the beach and when I drove down the road I saw my sister waiting for bus so I told her to come with me,” he retold. “When we drove into the gap there were two vehicles parked; one on the right with a man reading his newspaper and the car with the body a few feet away.”
If Chester had any doubts in the beginning this was the point where he could have turned around and went home.
“I didn’t know what to think,” Chester said. “I was hoping it wasn’t true and when I got there and saw the guy reading his newspaper I was like that can’t be true. My friend left before we got there so my sister and I both looked through the back of the vehicle. I saw what looked like a body; a big person in the driver’s seat and the seat was reclined. We went to look in the front through the windshield and what we saw was just jaw dropping. You know what you’re seeing but at the same time you’re not seeing it or believing it—we were in shock. We panicked, my sister had her hands over her mouth she was in shock.”
“There was a man in there and there were no signs of life,” Chester said recounting his nightmarish afternoon. “He was bloated, he was decomposing already. He was there perhaps from Tuesday until Friday, he had some big bumps all over his body and he was totally naked.”
“I didn’t know what to think or do,” Chester’s chilling tale continued. “I told the guy in the other vehicle that I thought there was a dead body and his reaction was like he thought I wasn’t serious. He just had that look on his face like he wasn’t surprised or interested, like a look of disbelief. Judging from that I told my sister lets get out of here. When we were getting in the car to drive off my friend who called me the first time came back. He was just driving in and I realized he knew the guy who was sitting there reading the paper so I felt more comfortable.”
At that point the man he’d spoken to finally went to have a look for himself as did another young woman who’d been walking along the beach at the time.
“I called a friend of mine who’s a police officer and he gave me the number for CID,” Chester continued. “I called them, I called my work place, various media houses and within half and hour to an hour, the media got there.”
Police cordoned off the area upon arrival and both Chester and his friend were required to give statements. Messages started circulating via Blackberry Messenger about a body found on the beach and in no time family members started making their way to the scene, including the dead man’s wife with a spare key to unlock the vehicle.
“From where I was standing I could see what was happening on the bottom,” Chester said. “Dr King checked it out and made the pronouncement. Rambally’s came and took the body away at about 7pm. I stayed on the scene the entire time. When they were driving out with the body the man’s daughter was screaming, “Daddy I don’t believe what they’re saying I want to see him!” She was screaming then she just fainted. The family didn’t get to see him at all on the scene. Dr Stephen King attended to her and she revived. I stayed around until the vehicle was towed off the scene.”
When he spoke to the STAR, a clearly shaken Chester said he wished he hadn’t taken his sister along with him.
“My sister is deaf,” he explained. “I wish it wasn’t true when I got there with her for her to end up seeing that as well. I was like why did I ask her to come with me? I guess it was because I was a bit afraid in the beginning. I didn’t know the circumstances of what happened, how he died. I feel traumatized from that. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life and that was an area I frequented often so it’s not something I was expecting to see. I love going to the beach; it’s close to my house. I swim to Rat Island sometimes. After that I could not sleep. I went to bed thinking about it. I can’t eat like I used to before. I’m definitely going to look into getting some counseling. I spoke to my managers at work who feel I need to get some therapy.”
The dead man found in his Honda CRV on the secluded beach has been identified as 48-year-old Desmond Alcee from La Toc. According to the police press relations department, Alcee was last seen when he left his home at about 9am on December 22. He was found dead at about 3:30pm. A post mortem was conducted this week and results indicate that Alcee, a former police officer who last served in the SSU before moving on to the Ministry of Tourism as a security consultant died as a result of hypertensive heart disease.
*Names changed upon request.
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