A desperate St James mother is calling on people from all walks of society to assist her in finding her 18-year-old daughter, Emela John, who has been missing for more than a week.
Emela John has been reported missing since October 7.
The signs of lack of sleep were evident as a tired Tracey Lawrence told Barbados TODAY from her Clarke’s Gap, Derricks, St. James home, that she wanted to “see my child alive and alright”.
“I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. You ain’t see how white my mouth is. I in a mess,” the mother said as she continued to worry about her asthmatic daughter who should be celebrating her 19th birthday in two weeks.
The former St. James Secondary School student was reportedly last seen last Wednesday evening, leaving the home of a family friend with whom she was living at Chapel Gap, Paynes Bay, just a short distance from her mother’s home.
Lawrence explained that she was informed that her daughter was missing when she called the family’s house last Saturday.
The mother of five says she plans to search the St. Lawrence Gap area which John is known to frequent.
“I would like her to come home if anybody got her. If she with anybody and hearing me, let her come along home,” Lawrence pleaded.
“I am not getting any negative feeling. I still feel she is alright and somewhere and ain’t want nobody know where she is. Or she probably gone with somebody and ain’t want nobody know. I just don’t know.”
But sitting at her dining table, having just returned from Holetown Police Station where she gave an official report about the missing teen, Lawrence questioned why the second of her children would leave home without all her identification documents.
“She don’t leave home without her purse with her ID card. I don’t know how come she left it home; it is not making sense to me,” a puzzled Lawrence said. “What got me is that she is just like one belt away from the black belt in Taekwondo. She is good and could manage herself.”
But as her tone changed, becoming more serious, Lawrence said she would be extremely upset if her daughter knew people were looking for her but was refusing to let everyone know that she was okay.
“You have your family looking for you, you got other Barbadians looking for you and you got people concerned. You don’t do these things, this is a serious thing,” the mother said.
She admitted that John had moved out from her home because she refused to abide by her rules, and could be stubborn at times.
Nevertheless, she said the teenager was a pleasant young lady who would not hesitate to help others.
Meanwhile, police public relations officer Acting Assistant Superintendent David Welch said investigations were continuing into the teen’s disappearance and the public’s assistance was needed.