(Jamaica Observer) Ten Jamaican men, who reportedly left The Bahamas for Miami by boat between late February and early March this year, have seemingly disappeared into thin air.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday issued an urgent request for information on the 10 following reports from concerned family members of at least five of the individuals, who say they have received no communication from them since.
“Unconfirmed accounts indicate that approximately 10 Jamaican men travelled from Freeport, Bahamas, to Miami, Florida, by boat on Friday, March 9, 2012. Family members of five of these missing men, have made contact with the ministry to request assistance in locating them. According to their families, no word has been received from them, since the date they were alleged to have gone on the aforementioned boat trip,” the ministry said in an advisory issued to the media yesterday.
The ministry has, in the meantime, called on other individuals whose family members might have been aboard that vessel to contact its Diaspora and Consular Affairs Department with that information. The ministry said, too, that it has sought assistance through the Jamaican Consulate in The Bahamas and the Jamaican Consul General in Miami as well as the local police.
According to the foreign ministry, individual family members have independently sought the assistance of the police in Jamaica, The Bahamas and the pertinent authorities in the United States of America as well, “and so far these investigations have revealed no boating accident or the detention of the men in those countries”.
