As Bahamian and American authorities conduct a massive nationwide search for three young boys who mysteriously went missing in Grand Bahama over the past month, a Government Minister is recalling an eerily similar incident that took place in that northern island 20 years ago.
Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe, a journalist by profession, told the Bahama Journal Thursday that he was concerned that there were similarities between this incident and the disappearance of three young boys in Grand Bahama in the early 1980s.
“Twenty years ago, three young boys went missing in the same month and the month just happened to be the month of June,” he said.
The boys in the earlier incident were never found.
Minister Wilchcombe said that he wondered whether the current incident is a repeat occurrence.
He said that he has brought information to authorities relevant to the case 20 years ago and he said he had additional information that he intended to pass on which might show some very interesting features that attention may not have been paid to.
Minister Wilchcombe, the Member of Parliament for West End, Grand Bahama and Bimini was in Grand Bahama over the recent holiday weekend where he attended a special vigil for the boys and gave support to their families.
He also visited the Command Centre where he met with search party officials including police officials. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security Cynthia Pratt who was preparing to travel to Grand Bahama to give her support to the families and search efforts said that more than 100 law enforcement officers from New Providence were being deployed to Grand Bahama to assist local police there.
This included a team of police officers who traveled to the northern island last weekend and defence force officers who left on Thursday.
Mrs. Pratt also said that members of the U.S. Coast Guard were also assisting by conducting air searches in Grand Bahama and throughout the country.
“We are hoping that we would get some idea as to what has happened to these boys,” she said.
Minister Pratt also made an appeal for all residents of Grand Bahama to lend a helping hand in locating the boys.
“I want to encourage Grand Bahamians to be of the same mind and try to pull together to see whatever assistance we can give to the families [of the victims], and to the forces that will be in Freeport over the next three or four days,” she said.
Eight Mile Rock representative Lindy Russell has also been actively supporting the missing boys’ families and search efforts of Grand Bahama authorities.
“We certainly are doing all that we can in Grand Bahama to assist the parents to try and locate where the boys are and will hopefully see their safe return,” Mr. Russell said.
The MP for Marco City Pleasant Bridgewater who in addition to giving of her time to the search efforts continues to show her support by wearing a yellow ribbon – the symbol of hope that Mackison Colas, Jake Grant and Deangelo McKenzie will be found alive.
By Julian Reid, The Bahama Journal
