After a body was recovered from the water near Village Cay Resort and Marina on April 29, “preliminary inquiries” suggested that the deceased is Ryan Smolderen, 65, a South African who had lived aboard a boat named Silent Wings, which was docked at the marina, Police Information Officer Diane Drayton stated in a Friday press release.
However, Ms. Drayton said a positive identification still needed to be made, and she added that the cause of death had not yet been determined and investigations were ongoing.
The body “was recovered floating in the water near the mangroves and taken to Marine Branch, where he was pronounced dead,” Ms. Drayton said in the Friday statement.
Ms. Drayton said yesterday that police are not treating Mr. Smolderen’s death as suspicious.
No other updates have been provided since the details released on Friday.
Meanwhile, friends and family mourned Mr. Smolderen on his Facebook page.
“Rest in peace, my dearest Dad,” wrote one commentator.
“We know you passed in the water, where you were always at peace. Until we meet again.”
This was not the first time in recent months a body was found in Virgin Islands waters.
In February, police found Waleid Kachhour, 40, dead in the water near the Sea Cows Bay Community Centre.
They later said that his hands and feet were bound and that the death was being treated as a homicide.