The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

MORE than a month after Acklins resident Kevin Bizzard vanished, his wife says she was told he called for help as the boat he was travelling in took on water — and she is still waiting to learn whether he is alive or dead.

Dianna Bizzard said her husband disappeared after leaving Abaco on May 30 in what residents told her was a black and white boat. She said a relative later showed her a screenshot from a fishermen’s chat claiming he had called for help because the boat was taking on water.

She claimed, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force searched for him that morning but found nothing, a claim The Tribune could not confirm up to press time.

“My problem is right now if he died, if he living, or if he dead,” she said. “If he called for help on the boat and said the boat was taking on water, as they said, definitely something went wrong.”

“Ain’t nobody see the boat neither him.”

Mrs Bizzard last saw her husband on May 27, when he left Acklins for New Providence. She said he later called to say he had arrived safely and would travel to Abaco that evening.

She said she is unsure why he made the trips, though she believes he travelled to New Providence to visit his brothers. She said he had previously gone to Abaco to repair boats.

“I know he usually fix boat and thing,” she said. “Last time he went to Abaco was to fix a boat. So, I don’t know, he just tell me he going to Abaco. That’s all he said.”

Mrs Bizzard said her husband later travelled to Abaco and remained there for several days. On May 30, he sent her what became his final message before contact was lost.

“I sent a message on WhatsApp. I called on the phone. I don’t know what happened,” she said, adding that his phone no longer rings. “I called the police in Abaco. I spoke with administrator in Abaco.”

Mrs Bizzard said she does not know how her husband travelled to Abaco or whether he went by plane or boat. She said she only heard he was in Marsh Harbour.

“I don’t know what he take to Abaco,” she said.

She said Abaco residents later told her they saw Mr Bizzard leave the island alone in a black and white boat on May 30.

Asked whether the boat belonged to him, Mrs Bizzard said she did not know. She said her husband had previously told her he planned to buy a boat, but never told her whether he had done so.

She said her husband never told her he was leaving Abaco to return to Acklins, though that is what she has since been told.

She said she has spent weeks searching for answers, contacting the police and asking residents in Acklins and Abaco whether they have seen him.

Although she last saw her husband on May 27, she did not report him missing to the Acklins Police Station until June 30.

“I was giving him time,” she said. “I say, well okay, if I wait until two weeks and I ain’t hear from him then I have to go back to the police station.”

Breaking down in tears, Mrs Bizzard said the uncertainty has devastated her.

“I don’t want think, I can’t cook,” she said tearfully. “I miss him. I can’t see him. I can’t hear from him.”

“I want him to return home or I want to hear from him. I want to know where he is. I just want to know where he is.”

The couple have been married for nearly four years and have no children together. Mrs Bizzard said her husband told her he had a child, though she has never met the child.

She said her husband has never disappeared before. She recalled that years ago, he survived after a boat sank and swam ashore before she arranged for a private boat to rescue him.

Mr Bizzard builds boats and works in construction. Mrs Bizzard described him as kind, helpful and her best friend.