13-year-old drowns during outing

Another child has drowned, this time in Cayo. And while police investigate the circumstances, the mother of thirteen-year-old Adela Vansen wants an explanation from her child’s caregivers. Adela and five of her siblings have been in the custody of the Human Services Department at the Dorothy Menzies Child Care Centre for the last two years. On Saturday, a group of children from the facility were taken on a trip to the Cayo District and while bathing in the Macal River near Chaa Creek, Adela reportedly went under the water and did not resurface. Vansen’s mother, Viola says she was not informed of the incident until almost twenty-four hours later.

Elodia Vansen, Mother of Deceased
?The evening they come to tell me that my daughter drowned and I can?t do nothing to it, so I would just want do something better than that for me because I am not taking this for nothing. Because they just tell me that my daughter drowned and they say that two or three divers were around, how my daughter drowned? I don?t believe that she drowned just like that. There have to be more to that. And I would want the social put more to it and give me back my children and I would need more help, more than they di give me.?

Patrick Jones
?Did they tell you what happened??

Elodia Vansen
?All they say is she run into the water and that was it. That is all they are telling me. My daughter told me that she is going on the trip, I didn?t say they could go or nothing. I just hear about she drowned the Sunday evening about four o?clock.?

Police from Benque Viejo responded to the call for assistance and organised a search party which later turned up Vansen’s body. The child was taken to the San Ignacio hospital where her body awaits a post mortem examination.