The body of 22-year-old Shomari “Mari” Fraser washed ashore before dawn in La Brea on Monday, three days after he went missing at sea in San Fernando.
Rhianna Giuseppi of Embacadere identified the body at Station beach near the La Brea police station. Fraser has been staying at Giuseppi's home for the past year and said she considered him her son. The father of one was originally from John John in Laventille.
“It is not the best news, but it is better to find him than not knowing where the body was. His mother was the first person I called, so she is aware,” Giuseppi told Newsday.
At around 5 am on Monday, the police were alerted of the body. The body was lying face down on the sand and bareback with a pair of shorts and boxers.
Fraser and three friends went on a trip to an island, Farallon Rock, in the Gulf of Paria off San Fernando, where he began having difficulties in the water at around 6 pm on Friday. His friends tried to rescue him, but he disappeared under the water and is believed to have drowned.
Giuseppi said he could not swim.
Before Fraser and the group left on a boat for the trip, they were advised not to go considering it was Black Friday (January 13). In some western cultures, Black Friday is regarded as an unlucky day.
Giuseppi recalled that a few years ago, a young man from the area drowned at sea on a Black Friday.
On Sunday, the NGO Hunters Search and Rescue Team, led by Vallence Rambharat, joined fishermen and Coast Guard to search for Fraser.
An autopsy is set for later in the week. Investigations are ongoing.
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