LADYVILLE, Belize District, Thurs. Jan. 19, 2017–An unknown man has been laid to rest by the police department after his decomposing body was fished from the Belize River early this morning.

His body was discovered floating down the river near the Manatee Lookout area at around Mile 8.5 on the Philip Goldson Highway sometime before 8 a.m. by passersby.

When our newspaper spoke to onlookers we were told that they had thought it was a manatee that had perhaps been struck by a boat.

However, a closer look revealed that it was a man of Creole descent, apparently in his early thirties, who was wearing a white under-shirt and brown under-pants.

The Ladyville police station was immediately contacted.

A police officer and a Coast Guard officer boarded a dory and were able to pull the body to the shore.

The body was thereafter transported to a private location where an onsite autopsy was performed.

There were no visible signs of injury on the body according to police, who told us that the post- mortem exam on the body, conducted sometime before 4 p.m., revealed that the man died of asphyxia caused by drowning.

Police had not been successful in identifying the man, and they had to quickly bury him, given the advanced state of his decomposition.

Police are yet to indicate how long the man had been dead before the discovery was made.

Investigations continue.