Monday, October 06, 2008
Jullene Edwards, 15, missing since September 9. (Photo: CCN)
More than 700 children have been reported missing since the start of the year, according to figures released by the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) last week. The figure represents 65 per cent of the 1,112 persons listed as missing between January 1 and September 23 this year.
Two of the 723 children reported missing have been found dead.
They are 11-year-old Aamir Scott, whose dissected remains were found in bushes at Sandside district in St Mary where he lived, and 15-year-old Baggio Easy, whose decomposing remains were found in water on the edge of the Riverton City landfill in early September this year.
An on-the-spot post-mortem revealed that Easy drowned, while a teenager has been charged with the gruesome murder of Aamir Scott after police said he confessed to killing the child.
Up to yesterday, police were still awaiting the results of a DNA test to determine the identity of a child's body found in Red Hills, St Andrew last week.
Relatives of 11-year-old Ananda Dean believe that it was her body that was found, arguing that a shoe and school tunic found at the scene belonged to the missing child.
Police reported that of the 1,112 persons who were listed as missing, 353 have been found or returned home.
However, the police were not able to say how many of the missing children have been found.
The police say the majority of youngsters who go missing are girls who often run away from home only to be found holed up with a male partner or who return home voluntarily.
"A lot of times the persons who reported the children missing are so overjoyed that they sometimes forget to report that the child was found," Deputy Superintendent Sonia James of the CCN told the Observer.
Since the start of the year, 58 children have been murdered.
Some of the persons reported missing are:
. Jullene Edwards, 15 - Left home in Harbour View to visit her mother in Gordon Town, St Andrew on September 23 and has not been seen or heard from since:
. Chivaughn Haughton, 14, of Olympic Gardens, St Andrew - Missing since September 19. Police say Chivaughn is of dark complexion, slim build and 157 centimetres tall. Chivaughn left home for an undisclosed location and has not been seen since. She was wearing a purple blouse, blue jeans pants and a pair of black slippers when she went missing;
. Dave Davis, 32, otherwise called 'Spangler' of Guava Road, St Andrew has been reported missing since Wednesday, August 27. He is of brown complexion, slim build and about 5 feet 8 inches tall;
. Javane Patterson of Tower Avenue, St Andrew. Police say on September 19 Javane left his home and has not been seen or heard from since;
. Nerryssa Hitulah, 15, otherwise called 'Paige' of Evans Avenue, St Johns Heights, St Catherine - Missing since Monday, August 25; and
. Seventy-two-year-old Gloria Scott of Spanish Town, St Catherine. Police say on August 24 the elderly woman walked out of her home and has not been seen since.
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