Deep beneath the rushing waters of the Rio Cobre, a mystery has lingered for more than four decades — a story of a strange fish, a missing diver and whispers of a river spirit said to guard the secrets of the water. They say, sometime in the early 1980s, a young diver known only as ‘Cock’ encountered something unusual while exploring the depths of the river. According to an old legend passed down in Kent Village, Cock spotted a strange fish and fired at it. The creature survived, but a single scale reportedly broke away. Cock recovered the scale, placed it inside a matchbox and began showing it to people, fascinated by what he had discovered. But the story took a darker turn. Residents say Cock eventually returned to the Rio Cobre — but, this time, the skilled diver never came back out alive. For those who still remember the tale, his death was more than a tragic accident. They believe Cock may have disturbed something hidden beneath the surface of the river. Jennifer Smith, who has been vending near Flat Bridge for approximately 40 years, said the story remains one of the most unforgettable tales she has heard. “He was a great diver, and when I say great diver, he went out to deep sea and dive,” Smith told THE STAR. She said, before his death, Cock reportedly had a strange encounter while in the river. “Before that happen, I heard that he’d shot a fish around that direction. Him never kill the fish, him only shot it and a scale come off,” she recalled. The scale soon became a curiosity among residents. “Him have it a show friend and a whole heap a people in a matches box,” Smith said. Then came the final dive. Smith said Cock entered the river while another young man waited nearby on the bank. But, as time passed, something unusual happened. The young man reportedly felt a cold breeze before falling into a deep sleep. “One young fellow come, him go in the water, and the fellow on the banking say him feel a cool breeze pass over him and him fast asleep,” Smith said. When the man woke up, Cock had vanished. “Him come to him senses, him a seh, ‘No, the time pass and him nuh come back. Something happen.’” Smith said the disappearance was reported to the Bog Walk police and Cock’s body was found three days later. The discovery shocked those who knew him. “We call him Cock. People seh, ‘No sah, Cock cya dead so just so. Something deh behind it,’” she recalled. Smith believes the tragedy happened around 1981 or 1982 and said it was one of the biggest shocks to hit the community at the time. “That was one of the biggest strikes back in the day,” she said. But, after Cock’s death, the rumours surrounding the river grew stronger. The mysterious fish. The missing scale. The strange breeze. “That cool breeze, according to people, is river maid,” Smith said. Some residents began to believe the events were connected — that the creature Cock encountered and his death were tied to the legendary river spirit. “Nuff people have it to say river maid take revenge,” she said. Smith said Cock’s relatives later shared another unusual part of the story. “Even his relatives believe, because they said a woman came and said he has her daughter clothes and she want it back,” she said. Years later, the tale continues to live on. Franklin, 61, a Kent Village resident, remembers hearing the story and said the fish itself was what fascinated people most. Its eyes, he said, were described as being “big like a moon”. “Before him dead, him shoot off the scale off a it and put it in a matches box and a show people, say, ‘Boy, dem fish yah eye big like a moon. Me affi go kill dah fish yah, if a nuh the fish a him,’” Franklin recalled. According to Franklin’s version, Cock planned to return for the fish. He later saw Cock’s body after it was recovered from the water. “Me see the body myself. Him bruk up,” he said. Neither Smith nor Franklin claims to have seen the river maid said to inhabit the Rio Cobre. But, after decades of hearing stories from people who claim to have witnessed strange events along the river, Smith believes there are still mysteries hidden beneath the surface. “Some people say them see river maid and the golden table come up in this river but, since I’ve been here, I have not seen any,” she said. Still, she refuses to dismiss the experiences of others. “Everybody have dem own different experience, so I won’t say river maid nuh deh,” Smith said. Franklin said he would welcome the chance to see the legendary creature himself. “I would love to see for myself. I never see one,” he said. Whether Cock’s death was simply a tragic drowning or something more mysterious, Franklin believes the Rio Cobre holds forces that humans may never fully understand. “Some powers inna the water deh, like how yuh woulda have lion pan Earth, some powers.”