Three Trinidad women, three abductions …are they linked?

Missing women: Natalie Pollinais, Ria Sookdeo and Carolyn Katwaroo

(Trinidad Express) Police are yet to determine whether the case of San Fernando mother of three, Natalie Pollinais, was connected to that of Ria Sookdeo and Carolyn Katwaroo, both of whom are still missing.

All three women were taken from their vehicles in the month of September.

Senior officers confirmed that there were similarities in the cases of the three missing women but were uncertain whether they were linked.

Sookdeo was snatched by men wearing police tactical uniforms. And a relative who was speaking with Pollinais on her cellphone told investigators that during the conversation she said “yes, officer” before the call ended.

Pollinais, 49, of Palmiste, was last seen leaving the Central Athletics gym at C3 Shopping Centre in Corinth, near San Fernando, on Thursday.

She was driving a white BMW car.

The vehicle was found abandoned at Union Hall, San Fernando, that same night.

Pollinais had contacted a friend saying she was leaving the mall and would visit in 20 minutes. She never arrived and her husband, Jason Pollinais, and teenage children began calling her cellphone. No one answered.

In September 2016, Ria Sookdeo dropped her two children off to classes at the Picton Presbyterian Primary School. She drove a short distance away to Picton Estate Road, where she attempted to turn her red Nissan XTrail around, but was blocked by a black van.

Sookdeo, 34, was dragged out of the vehicle and placed in the black van which sped away. Her handbag, cellphone and one side of a pair of slippers were left behind.

Her family searched day and night hoping to find the woman alive. But she was never seen. Sookdeo lives and operates her business at Wellington Road, Debe.

The black vehicle was captured on closed circuit camera (CCTV) footage heading towards Barrackpore.

A black X-Trail was seized by police and an ex-policeman detained three days later. But the man was released and police determined that the vehicle was not used in Sookdeo’s abduction.

Sookdeo’s relatives have not given up hope that she is alive and would return home. Her two young children have returned to school but prays every night for their mom.

Her husband, Mark Sookdeo, said he was trying his best to give the children a life their mother would want. But he is looking forward to the day his family is reunited.

In September 2015, Carolyn Katwaroo was last seen leaving her Block 5, Cedar Drive, Palmiste, home in her white Mercedes Benz car wearing a fitted black dress.

Katwaoo, 43, lived alone and had no children. She owned and operated a wholesale business, importing vegetables.

Her car was found abandoned in Union Hall, San Fernando, the next day, as one of her neighbours saw it parked along the roadway and notified the police.

Police said nothing appeared missing from the woman’s home.

A $100,000 reward was offered for information in the case but no one came forward.

Police said the cases of the missing women were not closed and investigations were ongoing.