(Barbados Nation) A man was in police custody last night after reportedly admitting he was responsible for the death of 12-year-old Rashida Bascombe, who went missing 11 years ago.
According to sources close to the investigation, the fate of the suspect is expected to be decided by the Director of Public Prosecutions after a review of his confession is carried out. They also indicated that the man was known to Rashida
Bascombe’s disappearance had led to an islandwide search for the student who had left her grandparents’ home after 8 p.m. on January 2, 2002.
Her grandfather, Whitfield Nurse, had told the DAILY NATION then of unsuccessfully searching for her after he realized she had not returned home.
At the time of her disappearance, Rashida, who was a pupil of Parkinson Memorial Secondary School, was staying with her grandparents at 1st Avenue, Accommodation Road, Bush Hall, St Michael.
Last Friday, police investigators conducted a search in a gully area just opposite One Accord Plaza in Warrens, St Michael, but came up empty-handed as they tried to recover any possible remains of the missing girl. Roadworks, which included excavation in the area over the past years, might have been responsible for the police’s lack of success.
Bascombe’s mother, Hermena Straker, told the SUNDAY SUN of confronting the man about her daughter’s death while he was in police custody.
According to her, he admitted killing her daughter unintentionally.
“I asked him what he did with Rasheda and he tell me Rasheda dead,” she said.
“I asked him why he didn’t call the police if that was what happened but he wouldn’t answer me,” she added.
“I asked him where this thing happened and he told me Jackson.
I then asked him what he did with my daughter’s body and he told me he left it the same place.”
Straker said she didn’t believe his version of what took place but reckoned that there might have been some sexual favours requested of her daughter.
She added the latest disclosure about her daughter’s fate had left her shaken and weak.
“I always knew something was wrong but I just didn’t want to believe it,” she said.
When contacted last night, Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Mark Thompson confirmed that police investigations were being conducted in relation to Bascombe’s disappearance 11 years ago.
“The investigation was in pursuance of information gleaned from the joint investigative team which was led by myself along with detectives from the Cold Case Squad, Truth Verification Unit, Major Incident and Crime Analysis Unit and the Major Crime Unit.”
Thompson also thanked the public for their assistance with the 11-year-old Cold Case and said the police welcomed any “additional information that may assist in closing this matter in the shortest possible time”.
