Missing at Christmas
Two children disappear after MoBay tree lighting ceremony
Published:Tuesday | December 17, 2024 | 12:11 AMAshley Anguin/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
A family in Glendevon, St James, up to last night remained deeply worried after being unable to locate a 10-year-old boy and his 14-year-old sister. The siblings went missing after attending the St James Municipal Corporation’s annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony on Sunday night at Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay.
The missing children are Recali Smith and Kimoya Gordon, both from the Damper Lane area of Glendevon.
Kimoya, a student of Holland High School in Trelawny, was last seen wearing a blue spaghetti-strap crocheted top and a pair of blue ripped jeans with black Crocs footwear. Recali, who attends Chetwood Primary School in Montego Bay, St James, was last seen in a white T-shirt, a pair of cut-off jeans and a pair of grey and white sneakers.
According to reports, the children left home with their grandmother and another child to go to the event, but towards the end of the ceremony, the grandmother decided to leave early to avoid the after-event congestion.
“My mother said she nah wait ‘til the event over because the place too crowdy,” said the children’s pregnant mother, Daneil Tennant, who had given her mother permission to take the children to the popular Yuletide event. “My daughter (Kimoya) insisted that she nuh ready, so my mother started to get upset on them to come on.”
Tennant added that her mother was also concerned about her autistic nephew in the crowd, which contributed to her decision to leave early.
“My mother went through the crowd with them towards the bus stop, but when she turned around, she didn’t see them,” said Tennant. “My mother waited around from 9 o’clock until after 10 o’clock and she left for home, thinking that they may have left for home on their own.”
However, when the grandmother got home, she discovered that the two children were not there.
Tennant then became concerned and started calling her son’s phone, but it went unanswered. Despite making several calls, she was unable to reach them.
Yesterday, with the children still not showing up at home, Tennant visited the Montego Hills Police Station, where she reported them missing. She provided photographs of them to assist the police in locating them.
With the police unable to find the children, Tennant tried to contact another girl, who was with them at the ceremony, but initially she was unsuccessful. Eventually she did make contact when she used another telephone to place the call.
“When mi call the number, she said they are coming home. I called back the police and they say they might have an idea where they are ... . I am hoping that they find them,” a worried Tennant told The Gleaner last night.
When The Gleaner contacted Superintendent Eron Samuels, the police commander for St James, he said he was not certain about the status of the situation and promised to check and get back to the newspaper. Up to press time, he had not furnished the information.