A missing Babonneau man who appeared disoriented after a search party found him on Saturday succumbed shortly afterward.
Family members had reported 38-year-old Garvin Avril missing from the previous day.
The search party found him in a forested area.
A close family member told St. Lucia Times that Avril, a heavy drinker, had a friend who died recently.
The family member said he discovered Avril, a pastry baker, was missing at about minutes to 5:00 am on Friday.
His door and the windows to his room were unusually open.
Later that day, when Avril did not show up, the family approached the Babonneau Police Station with a missing person’s report and went looking for him.
On Saturday, the search continued, eventually locating the missing man in a forested area of Babonneau.
“We found him on a stone, sitting down as if he was gone. He was speaking to himself. His feet were in the water. When we took him out he was responding,” the close relative recalled.
He said the search party escorted Avril out of the bushes, helping him up a hill.
According to the relative, Avril was ‘a big guy’ recovering from a broken leg.
“Reaching half way to the main road, he stopped. We gave him water and he said he can’t make it again. We sat him down and after a couple of minutes we saw his eyes were rolling to the back of his head and that’s where he took his last breath,” the family member, who preferred to speak anonymously, said.
He said Avril died in the arms of one of his male siblings.
“He did a long journey during the night. I don’t know if he forgot his way home,” the relative stated.
He told St. Lucia Times he believes a combination of Avril’s heavy drinking and the death of his friend may have caused the deceased, who had no mental issues, to ‘trip’ and ‘go haywire.’
The family and community members are still trying to come to terms with the death.