The puzzle of Antigua and the missing Poboda

Patricia Joseph says the worst part is mental torture. The “intestinal” flashes wonder about the last moments of her mother. Infinite case of forgetfulness.

Six years after her mysterious mother disappeared, Patricia is still capturing herself from a 74 -year -old billet that she wore, on the day she disappeared, hoping to have an idea.

Impressively, the bile is just one of an increasing number of people on the small island of Antigua in the Caribbean Sea region to disappear without tracking what some called a pandemic, while others are a crisis. At least nine have disappeared in the past two years alone.

On that day, that day started in May 2019 enough. Al -Safir, described as self -satisfied, had gone to a routine examination in the General Hospital, but failed to return. It has not been unprecedented since then.

This was to raise a series of non -fruitful searches at the island level and desperate calls for assistance.

“We have become investigators. My sister and I have cooperated to search for expected customers. I returned to the hospital to ask questions,” Patricia explains.

She was able to check that while her mother completed the blood scheduled tests, she did not appear to the cabinet. More investigations revealed that she handed over her handbag for another patient to monitor, but she is never no longer. The bag was found by security personnel the next day.

The family also managed to track a car driver who said it had given zero to a site shortly from the hospital.

“The police angered us to achieve it and told us to stop,” Patricia recalls. “Then they became upset with our continuous questions, so we had to eventually retreat and pray.”

The anniversary is particularly painful: March 6 was the birthday of the eighties, a milestone that has long planned a great celebration. Instead, Patricia took the day of the work leave to spend quiet thinking.

Patricia says that the number of people who disappear in Antigua is inappropriately high compared to the neighboring islands, an idea supported by sources on many islands that spoke to the BBC.

In ST Kitts, for example, with a population of 48,000, the official police statistics were presented out of the total of 54 people reported in 2023 and 2024, all of whom are calculated except for two. The remaining two are believed to be Haitian immigrants who have left the country since then.

The small size of Antigua is 108 square miles, home to less than 100,000 people, makes this phenomenon particularly confusing.

Speculation is widespread. Theories range from the Panal – the lack of will to be investigated by the low -resource police force and its deficiency – to the villain.

“Other islands find bodies in the end,” Patricia says. “My mind goes everywhere wondering what happened. People suggest the smuggling of members. I even thought about gang activity. Is it something required to do as a start?”

He sent the disappearance of a nine -year -old girl on March 12, the nation was reeling and the effects of extensive searches. The CHANTEL CROMP body was found two days later in a case that caused widespread public protests and protests – and was sent to excessive rumors. A woman was accused of killing a Chantel.

Antigua Everton Police Commissioner Everton Jeffrez admits that there is a “field of improvement” when it comes to public relations, but he rejects the idea that it is not available.

He also says that he keeps an open mind about the reason for the high number of disappearances, including the trading of the possible members on the island.

“It is something that we hear and something we will search for. There is no evidence to support it, but it is very important that we do not reject anything,” he explains.

Patricia has found some condolences to communicate with the families of other missing persons and is now planning to establish a working group to request international assistance.

“This is no longer a random thing, as this is dangerous, there is a crisis,” she added.

Aaron (not his real name) collected a list of approximately 60 people missing in Antigua – more than a third in the past decade alone – and it is believed that there are many of them. Men represent nearly two of every three disappearance, from teenagers to people in the seventies.

“I have suffered from this pain. I have lost a member of my family and the most important of the other,” he says.

“Families are suffering. Many have gone to their graves without seeing justice for their loved ones.

“Although some have disappeared because of their participation in criminal activities, there is an increasing concern that the organized member harvesting episode can work behind the scenes,” Aaron added.

Police say they are gathering the official figures of the missing people who cover the last two decades, but by the time of publication, it has not provided any numbers.

This year has already seen two others.

In late January, Long David did not return home after a night in a local casino. Since then, a burning Ordin car has been recovered, but there have been a few other clues.

“Her best friend for 23 years,” he recalls.

“The worst part is not to know if he is being held against his will,” Allen says.

“Does someone offend him, torture him? Every day my thoughts go. So, God forbid, this is the worst scenario, we need to close,” she added.

Ourn, 39, is well known in Antigua as a major litigation in An declared case 2022 that canceled legislation criminalizing sex acts of the same sex.

“I can’t explain the painful extent that instead of focusing on the fact that it is missing, some people focus as gay.

“I think the issue may have made him a target,” says Allen.

With areas of bush and ocean lands everywhere, the ease of hiding the body in Antigua may partially explain the absence of answers that many families suffer from.

“It is clear that the local police cannot solve this disappearance. They need to bring external assistance. How many people have to lose before doing something. Who is the next?” He adds alline.

How Richards, 38, who works on the national school meals program, was seen last time he left work on February 26. His mother, Diane Clark, says that she is “trying to remain positive,” adding: “You hear about the people who disappear in the news and then crawl on you.”

With the exception of a 43 -year -old woman, all those who disappear without impact in the past two years are men between the ages of 18 and 76.

Disableing investigations is the lack of a local criminal laboratory, which means that decisive DNA samples must be sent abroad for analysis, which is equivalent to long waiting for results.

Forensic Services Director Michael Morel BBC tells a new laboratory capable of analyzing trace evidence such as hair, blood and home will work within months, but he recognizes the abilities of DNA is somewhat due to small financial affairs.

The updated technology cannot come soon enough for some.

Kevorn, the son of Gregory Billy, 26, has not seen since he received a phone call from an unknown person who apparently left his home to meet in August 2022.

Gregory says that the telecommunications company claims that it has given the name of the caller to the police for a long time, but “until now the police cannot tell who is.”

His frustration and despair are clear.

“It seems like a part of me missing. Some people talk about closing, but I couldn’t deal with his vision in a coffin; I prefer to imagine him alive.”

“It is emotionally worrying to follow the police. If I do not call them, I do not hear anything; if I do, I get something sweet,” he added. “I want the government to know that people are sad; I don’t know if they appreciate it.

“I put missing stickers everywhere, but I couldn’t put anything around my home; I couldn’t carry it. It’s the most painful experience in my life.”

Gregory believes that the large number of disappearance is largely due to the extent that the criminal factions have escaped from killing.

Aaron also collected a list of more than 100 unnamed killings.

“People do not trust the police,” Gregory says.

“There were cases in which the perpetrators took revenge against the families of the victims when submitting reports,” Aaron agrees.

“There is no ideal police force in the world,” says police chief Jeffers. But he adds, “I can guarantee 90 % of our officers is good.”

It also admits the limited financing that hinders investigations.

“There is no police force in the Caribbean region that has sufficient resources to do everything we have to do.

“We are doing a lot to search for people, get strands from the audience and material and pledged to a set of new measures, including the creation of a missing missing team and the acquisition of dogs trained to reveal the bodies.

But this may not be sufficient to satisfy those answers that are waiting for desperate.

“It is time to take serious measures,” Patricia urges. “I hope this will not happen to someone close to him before taking a new look at this disappearance.”