The family apologized for not being able to inform the public of the burial ahead of time, but explained that they had to bury Massiah urgently because his body was already in an advanced state of decomposition.

Police informed us that Massiah?s relatives found his body six miles south of Belize City around 4:15 p.m. yesterday.

A post-mortem had to be conducted this morning at 5:00, but it was inconclusive due to the advanced state of decomposition in which his body was found.

Around 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 22, Massiah had left Belize on a fishing expedition along with four other men – Alwin Gonzalez, 25, of South Creek, who was the captain of the boat; Floyd Bermudez, 42; Kevin Ferguson, 37; and Hallet Arnold, 43. They were in a 23-foot fiberglass boat powered by a 200- horsepower engine.

At about 9:30 p.m., while the men were in the vicinity of Stake Bank, which is a few miles southeast of Belize City, the bow of the boat split, and it began to sink.

All of the men, except Massiah, made it to safety – Robert reportedly suffered an epileptic seizure and went under.

Search parties comprised of the Anti-Drug Unit (ADU) of the Police Department and Maritime Wing of the National Coast Guard, as well as Port Authority personnel, combed the waters for him.

Marlon Neal, his brother-in-law, along with Dwight Faber and Conrad Rudon, were also out searching separately.

The search began sometime before 12:00 noon, Neal told Amandala. They searched 13 miles of water and found Massiah lying face down on the shore, ? mile past the bar of the Sibun River.

The family is inviting those who could not attend the gravesite gathering this morning to attend the memorial service, scheduled for 5:00 p.m. Saturday at St. Ignatius Church. They said that they are very grateful to the 45 cyclists and friends who attended the funeral on such short notice.

To mourn his death, Massiah leaves behind his mother – Marie Dawson; his sisters: Carolyn Massiah-Neal and Loretta Dawson; his brothers: Wilhelm and Genario Dawson; his brother-in-law, Marlon Neal; his daughter, Venecia Diaz; his estranged wife, Estelle Rhaburn-Massiah; and several nieces and nephews.

(Ed. NOTE: Robert?s sister told Amandala that the family?s surname is spelt ?Massiah,? and not ?Mossiah.? The mistake was made many years ago in the media, she said, and it was never corrected.)