Three hours missing

Minutes before 5 p.m. on Tuesday, a 17-year-old student of a school in the Corporate Area took a taxi in the busy commercial district of Cross Roads, St Andrew, expecting what should have been a routine trip to extra classes minutes away in Half-Way Tree.

The journey ended hours later in confusion, distress and unanswered questions after the teenager said she was abducted inside the vehicle and left with no memory of what happened during several missing hours.

The reports did not indicate if the taxi was a red-plate carrier or a route taxi.

The Gleaner understands that the student had left home shortly after 4 p.m.

By minutes to five, she had boarded the taxi at Cross Roads and, on entering the vehicle, she noticed a woman seated in the back seat.

According to the account she later gave investigators, the woman suddenly placed a bag over her head and she lost consciousness.

The next time she was seen was around 8:40 p.m., when residents along Parks Road in St Andrew, near the border with St Catherine, spotted a young girl, barefoot and wandering along the roadway crying and appearing disoriented.

Concerned residents who approached her said she seemed frightened and was repeatedly saying that she did not know where she was.

APPEARED WEAK AND CONFUSED

“She was crying hard and saying she didn’t know where she was,” one resident told The Gleaner, adding that the teenager appeared weak and confused as they tried to understand what had happened.

They gave her a seat and immediately called the area police.

The police say residents in the community had moments earlier heard what sounded like someone being pushed from a motor vehicle, before discovering the student along the roadway.

The make of the car and the licence plate remain a mystery.

Superintendent Randy Sweeney, divisional commander for the St Andrew North Police Division, confirmed the report and said an investigation has been launched.

Sweeney said the teenager had left home to attend extra classes.

“About 5 p.m., she took a taxi at Cross Roads,” Sweeney said.

“Upon entering the taxi she observed a woman in the back. Thereafter, the woman bagged her head, after which she remembered nothing.”

Residents also tried to reach her family while assisting the teenager.

One woman described the frantic moments as community members attempted to help the distressed student.

“She was vomiting, vomiting non-stop,” the resident said.

“She keep knocking out. She revive, and then she knock out back. So dem say dem don’t know what in her system.”

The girl was rushed to the Kingston Public Hospital, where doctors conducted medical examinations to determine what may have happened during the hours she could not remember.

The police confirmed that she was going in and out of consciousness when she was first found, and was initially unable to provide contact information for her mother, though contact was eventually made.

Under normal circumstances, the trip between Cross Roads and Parks Road would take roughly 50 minutes to an hour, depending on the state of the traffic.

Yet, the teenager disappeared from public view for nearly four hours, raising concerns about what may have taken place during that time.

UNSETTLING INFORMATION

The alleged involvement of a woman inside the vehicle has also unsettled residents, many of whom noted that female passengers often feel reassured when another woman is present in a taxi.

Researchers who have examined abduction patterns in Jamaica say incidents involving transportation are among the recurring circumstances in such cases.

A comprehensive analysis of abductions in Jamaica between 2021 and 2022, conducted by Caribbean criminologist Paul Bourne, along with Jamaican researchers Dennis Brooks, a senior superintendent of police, and Vivienne L. Quarrie, found that the majority of victims were young females between the ages of 10 and 19.

Data derived from Jamaica Constabulary Force statistics show that young females in Jamaica are 13.25 times more likely to be abducted than males.

The study found that 53.9 per cent of victims, or 123 individuals, were between the ages of 10 and 19, with females accounting for 93 per cent of the cases.

Researchers say the findings highlight the vulnerability of adolescent girls and expose the gender disparities in abduction cases across the island.

The analysis also pointed to geographic trends, noting that St Catherine accounted for the largest share of reported abductions, at 25.4 per cent, with the St Catherine South Police Division representing 13.6 per cent of cases.

Temporal patterns were also observed, with abductions occurring most frequently on Wednesdays and Fridays, and the month of May recording the highest number of incidents.

The research, however, noted a 42 per cent decline in reported abductions between 2021 and 2022, falling from 144 cases in 2021 to 84 cases the following year.

Other studies examining crimes against children indicate that victims are often targeted while carrying out routine activities, such as commuting to school or travelling through public spaces.

*Sharlene McKenzie is now 19 and recounted an incident when she was abducted two years ago.

McKenzie told The Gleaner, “I had to jump from the vehicle, and maybe that is why I am alive today. It is really a frightening situation. Very often we hear about young girls, and even boys, who go missing. It is even more startling when the perpetrator has an accomplice... . I am a living testimony.”

The incident also comes against the backdrop of broader concerns about violence affecting children and adolescents in Jamaica.

Findings from the 2023 Jamaica Violence Against Children and Youth Survey indicate that more than three in four young Jamaicans between the ages of 13 and 24 have experienced some form of violence during their lifetime.

The survey found that physical violence remains widespread, with more than half of females and three in five males reporting that they had experienced physical violence.

Sexual violence was also significant, with one in three females and more than one in five males reporting such experiences, while emotional violence affected more than half of the young people surveyed.

The report further noted that many children and young people are exposed to violence in their homes and communities, with large numbers reporting that they witnessed violence in their neighbourhoods during childhood.

For residents who encountered the Excelsior student on Tuesday night, however, the experience was deeply unsettling.

One woman recalled seeing the teenager standing near a tree along the roadway before community members approached her.

“She did stand up there under the post and look lost. She is gonna be traumatised by it for life. We glad they never killed her,” the resident said.

Meanwhile, the police say it has not yet been determined whether the teenager was sexually assaulted.

Investigations are ongoing.

*Name changed

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com