An American husband and wife and their two children are living in terror after their vehicle was removed from the airport and the locks changed at a home they are leasing in an exclusive gated community.
Michael and Carol Kelly have been leasing a house for the past 18 months at Fortune Cay, where they live with their two children – a four-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son.
Although the family’s lease ends on April 1, the Kellys claim that their privacy was violated when the home’s owner allegedly came onto the property and had the locks changed without their permission.
Mrs Kelly and her family had left the island on February 14 to visit her mother who is very ill in the US. When they returned on February 16, she discovered that her Ford Excursion was missing from the private lot at the airport.
After taking a taxicab home, she found that a lock had been placed on the front gate, barring her family access to the property.
The Kellys believe that the incident is in retaliation to action in the Supreme Court against the owner claiming reimbursement of money they had spent on repairs to the home following the hurricanes in September 2004.
Instead of making monthly lease payments to the owner, the Kellys have been depositing the money in an escrow account.
Mrs Kelly alleges that the owner and several men had a tow truck remove the family’s white Ford Excursion from the airport.
And on February 17, she alleged, several men came onto the property with rifles, baseball bats and billy clubs and had the locks to the home changed.
“We have been violated in every way,” Mrs Kelly complained. “This has left my family emotionally stressed, terrified, and afraid.
“We had a locksmith come and change all the locks to the house and my husband has had to hire a security. But, my vehicle is still missing,” she said.
Mrs Kelly fears for her family’s safety and refuses to leave the confines of the premises.
By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter
