A 22 year old woman was found dead in the Belize River under the Bel china bridge this morning. Police believe she drowned – but there's more to the story. This wasn't a swimming incident; in fact Andrea Herbert couldn't swim. But she may have been driven to the water by a death-wish – provoked by mental illness, a condition aggravated by a long wait at the hospital emergency room for treatment.
Did this series of events lead to her demise? Here's what police know and what the family think:
Monica Bodden Reporting
This morning at 9:00, a large crowd gathered on the Bel-China bridge to see the body of a drowned female.
Police brought a boat to the Southern Approach of the bridge to fish the body out - eventually they gave up on that and had to pull it from the water's edge.
It's an unpleasant business and an unfortunate end to the somewhat troubled life of 22 year old Andrea Herbert:
Ismay Williams - Aunt of decased
"On more than one occasion, she told us that she wanted to kill herself because she doesn't understand this life, and why she has to go through so much challenges, like when she wants a job. If she doesn't get one quickly enough, she feels like it's too challenging for her. So, it's something where she always had in her mind."
Lovine Welch- Cousin of Deceased
"She likes to worry about things."
Ismay Williams
"Everything bothers her. If things don't work out fast enough for her, then she gets thrown off."
And that anxiety last night is what drove her away from the hospital where her mother had taken her to medicate her anxiety:
Supt. Alden Dawson - OC, Police Precinct 2
"She was suffering from a condition of anxiety, according to the mother, and within 2 hours time, the mother lost sight of her, and became concerned."
Ismay Williams
"They went to get attention from the hospital, but you know, how at the KHMH they like to take long to deal with people, so my cousin looked like she got frustrated and she walked off"
That reportedly happened after 3 hours of waiting, and her mother then launched a search, which took her among other places to the police station:
Ismay Williams
"They asked police to help them look for her because she isn't exactly straight in the head. they told her that they can't do anything until 24 hours after the child is misisng, then they can start to search."
Supt. Alden Dawson
"No, we don't have that policy. If the person reported, we begin investigations right away. We don't have that 24-hours policy."
Ismay Williams
"We feel like if the police moved when my family members went to talk to them last night, the child could have still be alive at this moment."
They didn't find her until this morning's discovery:
Lovine Welch
"2 things are in my mind. Either she walked in there, or somebody must have seen her, and - God forgive me, if I am judging somebody wrongfully, but I feel like they raped her and threw her into the water."
Supt. Alden Dawson
"So far, there has been no signs of any injury to the body, however, we await the post-mortem."
Ismay Williams
"Yes, she talked about drowning herself on more than one occasions, and yes, some of the family members were out looking for her last night, but for some reason or the other, nobody thought about going Bel China bridge."
No one knows when she met her end - or where she entered, or was put into the water:
Ismay Williams
"We might not look like that we are crying right now, but only God knows how we feel in our hearts. It's really rough, and we wouldn't want another family have to go through this same thing. I want to call out to the police and the people at the hospital, when people come to you to get your help because we are all human beings, and you never know when you will fall into the same trap like we are in right now."
The post mortem has not yet been concluded.
Andrea Herbert had received treatment for anxiety at the KHMH before.
