SOURCE BBC, BY GEMMA HANDY: The worst part is the mental torture, Patricia Joseph says. The “gut-wrenching” flashes of wondering what her mother’s last moments were. The infinite state of limbo.
Six years after her mother’s mysterious disappearance, Patricia still catches herself looking out for the distinctive orange-lined raincoat that Hyacinth Gage, 74, was wearing the day she vanished, in the hope it may hold a clue.
Tragically, Hyacinth is just one of an ever-increasing number of people on the tiny Caribbean island of Antigua to disappear without trace in what some have dubbed an epidemic, others a crisis. At least nine have vanished in the last two years alone.
That day back in May 2019 started out ordinarily enough. Hyacinth, described as sprightly and self-sufficient, had gone for a routine check-up at the public hospital, but failed to return. She has never been seen since.
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It was to trigger an excruciating series of fruitless, island-wide searches and desperate appeals for help.
“We became detectives. My sister and I teamed up to look for leads. I went back to the hospital asking questions,” Patricia explains.
She was able to verify that while her mother had completed scheduled blood tests, she had not shown up for an electrocardiogram. Further investigations revealed she had apparently handed her handbag briefly to another patient to keep an eye on, but never returned. The bag was found by security staff the next day.
The family were also able to track down a motorist who said she had given Hyacinth a lift to a location a short distance from the hospital.
“The police got angry at us for investigating and told us to stop,” Patricia recalls. “Then they became annoyed at our constant questions, so eventually we had to back off and just pray.”
Anniversaries are particularly painful: 6 March would have been Hyacinth’s 80th birthday, a milestone for which the family had long planned a big celebration. Instead, Patricia took the day off work to spend in quiet reflection.
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The number of people to vanish in Antigua appears to be disproportionately high compared with neighbouring islands, Patricia says, a notion supported by sources in several of the islands who spoke to the BBC.
In St Kitts, for example, which has a population of 48,000, official police stats provided show that of the total 54 people reported missing in 2023 and 2024, all but two are accounted for. The remaining two are believed to be Haitian migrants who have since left the country.
Antigua’s small size of just 108 sq miles, home to fewer than 100,000 people, makes the phenomenon particularly perplexing.
Speculation is rife. Theories range from the banal – a lack of will to investigate by an under-resourced and under-paid police force – to the sinister.
READ MORE HERE: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0jrk81qpwo
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Cabinet Report of Wednesday says:
The Minister of Safety congratulated the Police for their outstanding work.
That’s not even properganda. It’s playing to fools.
The ABLP Cabinet plays to a bunch of fools every week; week in week out, and the Report is not questions or debunked.
What a place!
I believe this woman walked away as a result of dementia
Why weren’t cameras run to see where the woman really went this must be heart breaking she wouldn’t leave her bags something happen to her maybe she couldn’t find back the lady she gave her bag to but something happened to her an this is sad I feel like crying
Abducted and the police know it
Sorry to hear about what happened to your family.. Whenever you have a reason to do somthing never let a person that’s not offering a solution stop you.It seems like someone in that hospital knows about your mom disappearing people we will never expect are involved in all these people disappearing and killing in Antigua. Trust no one no matter what uniform they’re wearing money greed will let them forget their job.
Say their names!
I remember this well. Just yesterday I was speaking with a friend of mine saying that this was the first of the many unexplained disappearances that initiated the sudden spike on island. Everyone who has lost someone should speak out once more. Never stop saying their names. Do not let us forget.
I feel very sad for the families of these missing persons, but I believe something sinister is a play here, a dark shadow has been cast over this land. Only the people en masse can put this right and we will get the opportunity to put this right very soon do not blow it the next time. BE WARNED! A word to the wise is sufficient
No bodies! No crime!
We have a lot of bushy areas around Antigua. Places that people can easily discard say…a deceased family pet…or a body.
I can’t tell the number of times I’ve driven by some bushy area and smelled a terrible odor and cussed while winding up my windows that some inconsiderate a**hole has dumped a dog nearby in the bushes…
Perhaps these “odors” should be investigated…
I guest communities will have to pool there own resources to solve these missing cases even if it involves hire your own private investigator. This has been going on for too long with no closures.
The cabinet is right on commending the police on work well done in Barbuda standing guard with m-16 machine guns to guard white area beaches and lands in the buffer zone like Jim crow laws in the 1950’s in the USA or the recent apartheid in south Africa and Israel, they also performed outstandingly guard excavator clearing lands for white people and politicians in Barbuda.
@Faithful national#2 A dark shadow has been cast over Antigua and Barbuda since Gaston Browne took leadership of these twin island state. I can remember it was announced that the red got the victory. When the moon came up full, the place was very dark. In all my years on the planet at that time. I never see a full moon come up and the landscape instead of bright vibrant light. There was a dark hue under the moonlight. Yes, I am convinced now, it is clear in my mind. Those wicked set a people didn’t win fairly. They went to Satan for advice. And they got it. So is the people of our country have to pay in blood. Look how many people gone missing, some can’t be found, some is being found but is noned being found. Look what happened in Swets sometime ago. But those who desire power will stop at nothing to keep it. That is clear. Gaston Browne needs Jesus I’m his soul. I pray that he will allow God in his heart. Because one thing I know when you cultivate evil, evil will return right back to you and yours. Do good and the same thing happens. Lester Bird, when he was alive and tried to walk in recreation grounds, he stood up and when he did, his pants fell to the ground. Not honary at all. All the money he accumulated over the years where is it? I hope they learn. God is not sleeping. When UPP one 2004 . After the ballets were counted, the next morning, the sun came up in the most beautiful glory. I never saw anything like it in my life. The most beautiful morning, I ever experienced. God helps in Antigua and Barbuda 😒😒😒
@Faithful national#2 A dark shadow has been cast over Antigua and Barbuda since Gaston Browne took leadership of these twin island state. I can remember it was announced that the red got the victory. When the moon came up full, the place was very dark. In all my years on the planet at that time. I never see a full moon come up and the landscape instead of bright vibrant light. There was a dark hue under the moonlight. Yes, I am convinced now, it is clear in my mind. Those wicked set a people didn’t win fairly. They went to Satan for advice. And they got it. So is the people of our country have to pay in blood. Look how many people gone missing, some can’t be found, some is being found but is bones being found. Look what happened in Swets sometime ago. But those who desire power will stop at nothing to keep it. That is clear. Gaston Browne needs Jesus In his soul. I pray that he will allow God in his heart. Because one thing I know when you cultivate evil, evil will return right back to you and yours. Do good and the same thing happens. Lester Bird, when he was alive and tried to walk in recreation grounds, he stood up and when he did, his pants fell to the ground. Not honary at all. All the money he accumulated over the years where is it? I hope they learn. God is not sleeping. When UPP one 2004 . After the ballets were counted, the next morning, the sun came up in the most beautiful glory. I never saw anything like it in my life. The most beautiful morning, I ever experienced. God help us in Antigua and Barbuda 😒😒😒
True true true and everything felt so quiet like God has taken over