2-y-o St Thomas child still missing after 20 days
Published:Wednesday | January 26, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Anastasia Cunningham, Senior Gleaner Writer
IT Has been 20 days since baby Ralston went missing and there is still no sign of him.
In fact, everyone still thinks his disappearance is an absolute mystery. But even more appalling, there seems to be no urgency in searching for two-year-old Augustus Neville Mitchell, affectionately called Ralston, who is afflicted with sickle cell. He disappeared from his community in Albion Mountains, deep rural St Thomas, on the morning of January 6.
Albion Mountain is a close-knit, quiet, peaceful community, high up in the mountains, populated by mainly coffee and vegetable farmers. They have not had any report of crime in a very long time.
"You can leave your door open and come back," said neighbour Lorna Roberts.
In fact, the closest they came to anyone going missing was some 30 years ago when an elderly woman disappeared for a day.
"Dem say duppy take her way and bring har back," added Lorna.
Many of the residents in the community are relatives, and everyone knows each other by name. The area is so remote, transportation is miles away and strangers are easily noticed.
Most people in the community strongly believe baby Ralston was taken by a 'spirit'. To them, there is no other explanation.
Very strange
"The relatives believe duppy take him way," said Superintendent Mervin McNab of the Morant Bay Police station. "In any case, this one is very strange, very mysterious."
He added: "I suspect that someone took the child. When I checked the area, and for the time frame in which he disappeared, there is no place for him to get lost. There is no precipice, no pit, nothing for him to fall in."
McNab said the case is being severely hampered by the lack of a photograph of Ralston, so they are bringing in a sketch artist this week to sit with the parents to get a sketch out to the media by the end of the week.
He said statements were collected from the parents, the caregiver and persons in the community. An attempt was also made to track a cellular phone the toddler had with him, which revealed that the phone was somewhere in St Catherine. Since then, the phone has been turned off so that lead went cold.
Parents puzzled
In the meantime, parents Neville Mitchell and Danna Emmanuel, who have eight children, the eldest 24 years, and the youngest two months old, said they still have not heard anything about their son since he went missing.
"There is no word until now about Ralston and I wondering what is going on," said Mitchell. "No one saying anything to me. I don't know if there is a specific time for them to finish their investigation to come to me."
Three of the children, including Ralston, lived with them.
Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Augustus Neville Mitchell, also known as Ralston, is being asked to contact the Cedar Valley Police at 703-0035, police 119 emergency number, or the nearest police station.