Messi to be buried Friday

The toddler’s father Atiba Gorkin yesterday said he is praying for strength from the Almighty, since he still has not come to terms with the fact that his youngest son has died. “It feels like I am in denial, but it is a reality that my son is dead. Every time I think about him, tears come to my eyes.

“It is only God that could get me to come to terms with this.

The next few days will be especially hard for my family, but we are depending on each other and God so that we could get through this,” Gorkin said. Messi’s body was found by Coast Guard officers on Monday morning, after he went missing from the Boardwalk in Chaguaramas on Sunday.

Newsday understands that Messi, his father and other family members went to the Boardwalk on Sunday to relax and enjoy themselves at the beach. At about 5 pm, Gorkin realised his son who minutes before was standing on a flight of stairs right behind him, was missing.

Relatives made a frantic search for the toddler, but when they could not find him, they alerted the Coast Guard and the Chaguaramas Development Authority’ security.

A missing person report was on Sunday evening filed at the Carenage Police Station. The search continued well into the night, but it was not until the following morning, that the toddler’s body was found floating in the waters near Pier 1. An autopsy done on Monday confirmed that the toddler died from drowning.