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Police at 'crime scene' in Rockfort in probe of Paulwell's missing baby and her mom

Published:Friday | October 6, 2023 | 7:16 PM
Senior police officials have declined to comment on the latest development, which comes almost since Sarayah Paulwell and her mother, Toshyna Patterson, 27, were reportedly abducted from their St Andrew home on September 9. -Contributed photo

The police are now processing a “crime scene” they believe is linked to the disappearance of Opposition Member of Parliament Phillip Paulwell's 10-month-old daughter and her mother, law enforcement sources say.

Investigators are at a location in the Rockfort community of eastern Kingston. 

Senior police officials have declined to comment on the latest development which comes almost a month since Sarayah Paulwell and her mother, Toshyna Patterson, 27, were reportedly abducted from their St Andrew home on September 9. 

“We have a crime scene and we believe that the bodies were taken there and disposed of. It's possible, too, that they were killed at that location,” said a member of the security forces who was not authorised to comment. "We are processing the scene. We don't know what we will come up with,"

Earlier today, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Fitz Bailey disclosed four persons have been arrested in relation to the case and that the matter has morphed into a complex case of kidnapping and conspiracy to murder. 

According to him, the evidence collected so far is strong and that the investigation is far advanced. He said the four persons are to undergo of series of administrative procedures before formal charges are considered.

DCP named 34-year-old petty officer in the United States Navy Leoda Bradshaw, who shares a child with Paulwell, among the persons in custody.

Attorney-at-Law Deborah Martin, who is representing Bradshaw, said her client has provided a statement and her cell phone to the police. 

Bradshaw issued a statement on September 10, in which she said: "I wish to state categorically that I have absolutely nothing to do with the disappearance of Ms Toshyna Patterson and her baby girl". 

Paulwell is the Member of Parliament for Kingston Eastern and Port Royal and Leader of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives. 

“This is scary and comes at a time when I have been threatened by scammers  who have hacked my phone and banking data and are demanding money to  release them,” he said in a statement on September 9. 

- Livern Barrett contributed to this report.

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