A University of Guyana student has been reported missing after not returning home from a visit to a barber at Bagotstown last Wednesday.
Joel Skeete, 19, has been missing since the evening of Wednesday, March 31.
A release from his family said that he was last seen leaving the barber shop at the Harbour Bridge Mall, Bagotstown, East Bank Demerara, around 7 pm. He was dressed in a dark red T-shirt, dark grey long jeans, and red slippers.
Skeete, a Computer Science major at the University of Guyana, is 6ft 3 inches and weighs about 200 lbs.
“I trust in God that he is well and he will return,” were the words of his mother, Lorenza Griffith, when she was contacted by this newspaper yesterday.
Griffith related that the last time she saw and spoke with her son was around 5pm Wednesday afternoon, when she left him at a shortcut road connecting the East Bank Public Road to Republic Park. “I was going to town. So I dropped him by the shortcut to walk out to the Public Road and I continued to head to town,” she explained.
Griffith further said that her son was in contact with her two more times before he was last seen at the barbershop. “He communicated with me around 6.35 pm that he was now getting his hair cut because apparently he had to wait on the barber. Then at about 7.10 pm I spoke with him and he said he was leaving the barbershop to come home,” the concerned mother told this newspaper.
The woman said that communication with Skeete after their last interaction was unsuccessful. She said that she is uncertain of how Skeete was returning home on Wednesday but added that it is common for him to use a taxi when he is returning home after dark. “He would usually walk [home] but if its dark and he’s coming home, the usual thing is to go and get a car to come in because we have some safety concerns in terms of walking in alone when it’s dark,” Griffith informed.
Griffith said that her son has never stayed out without informing her of where he is or is going. She also said that she is unaware of any altercations between Skeete and other persons. However, she said that she was informed that Skeete was involved in conversations with a person or several persons via his phone while he was at the barbershop.
Anyone with information that would help to find Joel is asked to contact the police, or his mother, Lorenza Griffith, on 223-6368/ 618-7834, or his uncle, Julius Skeete, on 611-1004.
