Toddler goes missing at Westmoreland grave digging

WESTERN BUREAU:

Where is four-year-old Shakeil Patterson? That is the question resting on the heart and mind of Trecia Thomas as she frantically searches for her grandnephew, who went missing in Friendship, Westmoreland, on Sunday afternoon.

Thomas told The Gleaner that young Shakeil, who she has been raising as her son since he was two weeks old, disappeared without a trace during a grave-digging exercise for her recently deceased mother.

“I was at my mom’s grave digging. I have all the responsibilities there to see that everything is going right, so I was getting busy. At about 2:30 p.m., he came to me and said, ‘Mommy, I need something to drink.’ I told him to go and have it,” said Thomas.

“I then saw him and a little boy walking away while drinking the juice. After that, he told me that he was going by his daddy, where his uncle was, so I told him to go on. It was close by, and all our family members were there,” added Thomas.

The Gleaner understands that the toddler visited the nearby property where his family members were. and after spending some time there, he reportedly told a relative that he was heading back to the grave digging to see his mother. However, Thomas said, the little boy never returned.

While speaking with The Gleaner on Wednesday afternoon, Thomas said her motherly instincts went off immediately after realising that she did not hear Shakeil’s little voice making one of his usual requests.

“I was wondering where Shakeil was, so I asked, and nobody saw him. So mi seh ‘No sah. That nuh sound right’. Mi still a ask, and everybody started looking around. But mi a seh, ‘No sah. Shakeil nah stay weh so long and nuh come ask me for something,” said Thomas.

As the hours went by, and with night approaching, and still no sign of Shakeil, Thomas made a missing person’s report at the nearby Whithorn Police Station, also in Westmoreland. Superintendent Shaunjaye Mitchell, a senior officer in the Westmoreland Police Division, confirmed that a report had been made about the missing child.

Search parties

Thomas said search parties were all over the parish on Monday and Tuesday looking for Shakeil, but up to yesterday, their efforts to find him had been unsuccessful.

“Everybody started going out to hunt in the bushes, but dem cya see him. We didn’t find any trace of him, not even one foot of his slippers,” said Thomas.

The death of her elderly mother and the disappearance of young Shakeil has hit Thomas very hard as she is now experiencing crippling anxiety, which has resulted in her, at one point, being rushed to the hospital.

“Words can’t explain how I’m feeling. I can’t sleep, and I can’t eat. I’m dying inside,” said the distressed Thomas. “I pray to God every day. It’s hard for me to focus on my mother’s funera … really hard … it’s really hard for me. I can’t even explain myself properly. I just want my baby home safe and sound.

“I had to go to the doctor in the night (Sunday). They gave me something to sleep. Mi cya manage. I don’t know if it’s the right time now to talk because my head is hurting me. My head feels bad. I just cya manage,” said Thomas, who became overwhelmed with emotions.

Shakeil’s father is Thomas’ nephew, but he was handed over to her by his birth mother after she began experiencing difficulties. Thomas has been his primary caregiver and guardian since then.

“He is my grandnephew, but I have been raising him since he was two weeks old. He is my nephew’s child. His father wasn’t helping him. A me alone. His mother gave him to me at two weeks old because she had two other children staying with her mother already, so I said before she carries him go throw him away, I will keep him because he is our blood,” said Thomas.

The distraught Thomas is appealing for the public’s assistance in locating the young child. Anyone with information on the toddler’s whereabouts is being asked to contact the police at 119, 311 or visit the nearest police station.

rochelle.clayton@gleanerjm.com