Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter
THE POLICE yesterday called for public assistance in locating five persons, including four teenagers, who have gone missing within the past three months.
However, the information arm of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) was hesitant to reveal how many persons have been reported missing since the start of the year and in 2005.
According to the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), two of the teenagers went missing from their homes in St. Catherine, in February and March.
They are 15-year-old Tenish Morris, also called 'Nickeisha', of Brunswick Avenue and 17-year-old, Orville Thompson of Gravel Heights, both in Spanish Town.
The police reports say Morris left home at approximately 8:00 a.m. on February 14 for an undisclosed location. She has not made contact with her relatives since.
She is of dark complexion, slim build and is about 165 centimetres (5ft. 5ins.) tall. When last seen she was clad in a blue jeans skirt, white blouse and blue and white sneakers.
Thompson left his home at noon on March 31, also for an undisclosed location. He has not been seen or heard from since.
He is of dark complexion, slim build and about 172 centimetres (5ft. 8 ins) tall. He was clad in black pants, white shirt and a pair of black shoes.
Seventeen-year-old Delecia Strachan, also called 'Marsha' of Mansfield district in Bath, St. Thomas, was also reported missing from his home since April 8.
She is of brown complexion, medium build and about 157 centimetres (5ft. 2 ins.) tall. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans, pink T-shirt and a pair of pink slippers when she was last seen.
The other teenager is 15-year-old Fallon Aneita Bryan of Old Braeton, Greater Portmore in St. Catherine, who has been reported missing since March 29.
When last seen she was wearing a black blouse, blue jeans skirt and a pair of flip-flop slippers.
Thirty-seven-year-old, Richard Meeks, otherwise called 'Richie' of Hill Avenue; Kingston 11, went missing on March 10. Mr. Meeks left home at 10:00 a.m. for an undisclosed location and has not been seen since.
He is of dark complexion, slim build and about 178 centimetre (5ft. 10ins.) tall.
When contacted yesterday, a spokesperson for the CCN at first said the department did not keep a file on missing persons but then promised to research the matter and have the information available within the hour.
However, when contacted later, the CCN spokesperson claimed the only copies of the information had been sent to the producers of a television talk show and were therefore unavailable at this time.
In 2004, the police reported that there were 1,881 cases of missing persons, of which 1,149, or 61 per cent, were female. There were 732 reported cases of missing males.
Two years ago, the Government announced that an anti-kidnapping unit would have been set up to address an apparently increasing spate of abductions, including that of high profile social worker Christine English. To date, that unit has still not been set up.
