Body of girl mysteriously found floating 20 hours after pool was searched

Apr 25, 2025 News

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By Christal Young 

Kaieteur News- The body of 11-year-old Adrianna Younge, who was reported missing on Wednesday during a family outing at the Double Day International Hotel and Bar in Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), was discovered floating in the hotel’s swimming pool about 20 hours after she disappeared.

The child’s body was discovered around 10:00hrs on Thursday by family members and enraged protesters, who stormed the hotel premises. Upon discovery, her father, Subrian Younge, jumped into the pool to retrieve his child, who was already dead. Younge’s body bore visible signs of violence, including injuries to her hands, knees, and face; there was also what appeared to be cotton wool stuffed in her nose, raising immediate suspicions of foul play.  The discovery was made hours after police released information stating that surveillance footage caught the child leaving the hotel premises in a motorcar.

The aggrieved father told the media he had a gut feeling that his child was being held in the hotel, so he never left the scene.  “The police searched the building four to five times … I tell the police me daughter still in deh. I tell you since I come here yesterday my belly tell me my daughter in there,” the distraught father told reporters. He continued, “My suspicion is what have been happening in this place (Double Day Hotel) for years, the amount of persons who died in this place here … and I know to me self right the same thing would have happen, they would have wait for we go away and say they find the girl body but that’s why I stick in.”

Citizens protest

As news of the child’s death spread across social media, hundreds of concerned villagers and citizens converged on the scene. Enraged protestors and villagers began destroying the building, throwing bottles and chairs at the glass structure of the high-rise building. They later set it on fire as several police ranks showed up in riot gear, but they stood and watched as the crowd destroyed several vehicles, looted and burned the hotel and nearby buildings.  The angry crowd continued to destroy the building and set fire to several vehicles and other objects, blocking the road with debris. Screams of murder echoed through the crowd as thick, dark smoke engulfed the area. Fire service officers and ranks stood by as the crowd lit the place on fire.

FAMILY OUTING

Hours before the body was pulled out of the pool, the 11-year-old girl was at the Double Day Hotel pool with her grandmother and other relatives for a family outing. She was discovered missing between 13:00h and 14:00h. Her grandmother reported that the child was given money to purchase a swim band to enter the pool. A short while after, the family realised the child was missing and began searching the premises, but she was nowhere to be seen. The worried family then notified the Tuschen Police Station, and ranks reportedly arrived at 15:30h.

Initial reports from the police were that several searches were made in the rooms, roof, yard, storeroom and the pool of the Double Day hotel, but Younge was not found. In a subsequent statement, police stated that surveillance footage showed Younge leaving in a red and black Toyota Raum, allegedly driven by a man named “Orlando”. This statement resulted in a manhunt. However, family members and neighbours also disputed the police statement in relation to the surveillance footage as they claimed that the footage from nearby homes proved that the child never left the hotel. As a result, the family stayed on the hotel premises, and a large crowd, estimated to be in the hundreds, began to gather outside in protest of the strange circumstances surrounding the girl’s disappearance.

FIERY PROTEST

Kaieteur News was on the scene as Younge’s body was pulled from the pool. Protest erupted into violence as the news of the death triggered widespread public outrage. Protesters set fire to the hotel, blocked emergency services, and accused the police of negligence, spreading misinformation, and mishandling the investigation. The hotel was then set ablaze, while tyres and vehicles were also set on fire. Several protesters hurled objects at the hotel as it was engulfed in flames, looting the building, carrying off appliances, mattresses and other items from the premises.

The girl’s mother, Amecia Simon, stood among the protesters, expressing her frustration with the way police handled the matter. She said, “The CID (Criminal Investigation Department) closed down the building (Hotel) and when we go at the back for search the two of them opening the back … they (staff of the hotel) need to say what … (they) did to my child, because my child is 11 and she will not walk out of here with her wet clothes with no foot wear, she will never do it.”

Devastated and desperate for answers, the mother made an urgent plea for justice.  In her distress, the woman recounted her initial interaction with the commander, who had told her to go home and sleep the previous night, implying that everything would be handled. She said angrily, “(The police) tell me go home and sleep last night, I must go home and sleep, I want he tell me who name Orlando … I can’t take it no more, I can’t take it no more, he tell me I must go home and sleep, because they (police) tracing the vehicle and that time me child never come out from there (the hotel).

Hours after the initial the statement was released by the Guyana Police Force, another statement from the police came out stating that the initial statement contained inaccuracies.

FULL PROBE

Meanwhile, in a statement posted on his Facebook page, President Irfaan Ali expressed his commitment to uncovering the full truth. He stated, “I have asked the Commissioner of Police to assemble a special team to lead the investigation into all the circumstances surrounding 11-year-old Adrianna Younge.”

He emphasised that no resources or efforts would be spared to ensure a thorough investigation, adding, “Whatever specialised resources are required to determine every aspect of the events and circumstances will be provided.”

The President also directed the police to provide a detailed explanation of every action taken since the case was reported, saying, “I have asked that the police explain, in detail, every action taken since the matter was reported. Like the rest of the country, I stand with this family at this time of extreme grief.”

In the same vein, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, during his weekly press conference on Thursday, also highlighted that the Police Force should release the footage they claimed they reviewed, which showed Younge entering a red vehicle in front of the Double Day Hotel, and the said car leaving. He said, “They (police) said that they have a video that showed this child entering a vehicle, they give the number of the vehicle and its color, so if you viewed the video footage you must release it to the people of this country, we want to see it, I would like to see it.”

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• Adriana Younge, Dead, false information, missing, protest

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