The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

and RIEL MAJOR

Tribune Staff Reporters

POLICE have renewed their appeal for information that could lead to the arrest of the woman they suspect abducted and later abandoned several young boys in separate incidents in recent weeks.

With the release of a new sketch yesterday, officials said they are now moving in on a person of interest, but insisted the public would have to play a key role in bringing this ordeal to a close.

Yesterday, National Security Minister Marvin Dames stressed police officers need tips from the general public to lead to an arrest.

Mr Dames told reporters and members of the National Crime Council: “The police identified the car, they identified the area, they have put out composites on the individual... someone knows who this person is.

“I sit and I listen to politicians, past and present, members of the public say police need to roll out all of their resources, but the police are only as strong as the people who put them there. That’s each and every one of us.”

He admonished those casting blame on police when they are working hard for the country. He said: “This whole concept, you turn on your radio and we have become experts at identifying the problem and blaming somebody else. (The police) may not have the answers to everything they may not be the answer to everyone but those are the ones we are pulling down because they have made a decision that they will be different that they would assist in changing the direction this country is going in.

“They will get (her)...because I believe they’re on the right track. It is much easier for the neighbour to say, ‘boy listen this lady been acting funny for a while.’

“That’s the key to solving the matter so pick up the phone and call.”

The Nassau Guardian reported on Monday that police now believe that four of the cases are connected.

“We have a strong belief that four of those incidents are connected and that’s based on several things,” Chief Superintendent Solomon Cash told The Guardian.

He said police were interviewing witnesses who have given similar descriptions of a vehicle that police were still searching for.

“What I would also add is, with the recent incident, we are following some leads,” CSP Cash said.

“Again, it’s a bit early to be definitive in saying that that is the person that we suspected but that individual is a person of interest and we will soon be bringing that individual into custody to speak with,” he told the local daily.

The unnamed suspect has terrorised communities across the capital for nearly six weeks now, luring multiple boys into her car, where she would drive them around for hours at time before dropping them off at the entrance of the New Providence Landfill.

The abduction of an eight-year-old boy from the Fox Hill community last Friday ended a three-week lull on this bizarre string of incidents. According to police, two boys ages eight and ten were standing in front of their residence when a woman driving a silver vehicle stopped and began talking to the children.

That conversation resulted in the eight-year-old getting into the car, while the ten-year-old walked away.

The eight-year-old was subsequently dropped off at the New Providence Landfill.

In early March, four boys were allegedly abducted in two separate incidents in less than 24 hours, but were found a short time later, police said, adding the incidents were being looked at separately.

On March 7, three boys were taken: two eight-year-olds and a ten-year-old. The boys were walking on Kool Acres Road in eastern New Providence when “they were picked up by a female who was the lone occupant” of a dark coloured vehicle, police said.

The two eight-year-olds were initially dropped off by a Haitian village in the vicinity of Seabreeze and Joe Farrington Road. The ten-year-old was dropped off later by the city dump.

The day before, March 6, eight-year-old Tyvon Deveaux was abducted by a lone female driver in a silver-coloured Japanese-model vehicle. On February 16, three-year-old Shavar Bain was abducted from outside his home and then left frightened and alone outside a Fox Hill washhouse several hours later, sparking a manhunt for two women believed to be the abductors.

On March 3, an eight-year-old girl was abducted from her home by an alleged male perpetrator.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 328-TIPS (8477) or the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991/2.