Correctional Services official found dead

A two-day search for Reverend Orville Moore, acting deputy commissioner of rehabilitation and probation aftercare services at the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), ended in tragedy on Thursday.

For hours, police officers and members of the Jamaica Defence Force scoured sections of a precipice along the Eglinton main road in Spur Tree, Manchester, where Moore's body was reportedly found near his mangled motor vehicle. The police therorise he was involved in a vehicular accident.

For decades, the section of the roadway has been labelled as a serious accident zone with numerous heavy duty units and other vehicles losing control and veering off the cliff. One resident said there was a helicopter circling the area from as early as midday, prior to the convergence of other law men and curious onlookers.

"When I heard they were looking for a body me come up here come look too, but for a while they were there and it never looked like they saw anything. But then I saw more police, more soldiers and people start come and I knew something was found and it wasn't good," the resident said. Up to late Thursday, firefighters were still trying to retrieve the body and the vehicle.

Individuals close to Moore said they have now been left with more questions than answers, as the acting director, who went missing on Monday, had called to confirm he was in Kingston the day before. According to reports, Moore, who resided in Black River, St Elizabeth, travelled from home on Sunday to Kingston in preparation for an important meeting scheduled for Monday morning. When he did not show up for the meeting, there was concern. Reports were later made to the Half-Way Tree Police Station in St Andrew as all other efforts to locate him proved futile

"We don't understand why he would be here in Manchester ... something is not adding up and our suspicions are raised," said the individual who requested anonymity.

In a release from the DCS' Acting Commissioner of Corrections, Dr Marc Thomas, said it was a very challenging time for the entity and Moore's family.

"Reverend Moore delivered exceptionally and was professional in the execution of his duties across two decades," said Thomas. According to the release, members of the Chaplaincy Unit have been deployed to provide counselling to his family and staff members. Moore began working with the DCS on February 1, 2003 as a probation officer and was appointed on October 1, 2004. He was promoted on October 1, 2017, to chief probation aftercare officer and was assigned his current position on May 12.