Jamaica - Jameal Mendez, 2, went next door to play, poss seen in car, Clarendon, 12 May 2022

[GuyfromCanada]

A desperate search is now being carried out in a Clarendon community to locate two-year-old Jameal Mendez who was last seen yesterday afternoon.

His mother Kera Williams, who could hardly hold back the tears, told The Gleaner that she gave him a bath some time after 3:00 pm and he then went next door to neighbour's house to play.

More at Desperate search on for missing two-year-old in Clarendon

Jameel's mother, Kiera Williams, said she bathed him about 3 o'clock with plans to take him to visit relatives.

But sometime after 5 o'clock, she started calling him and realised he was not in the house.

Ms Williams says a man told her he saw the child in a Toyota ProBox after 6 o'clock.

More at Search On For Missing Two-year-old In Clarendon

 

[Unsolved]

He is sure a cutie. The OP article says he went next door to play - so what do the neighbors say? I'm trying so hard to keep my mind away from the bath...oh I hope he is safe at only 2 years old!

 

[GuyfromCanada]

Missing for over 24 hours already. Where could Jameal be?

 

[Allabouttrial]

I'm shocked by some of the comments regarding blaming the mother for letting her 2 yr. old play next door. Does Jamaican culture differ in this regard?

 

[deadfoot13]

How a 2-year-old boy vanished in Clarendon

The mother of missing two-year-old Jahmeal Mendez believes that a sudden urge to scroll through photos of her young son might have been an omen that something was wrong. That intuition caused 26-year-old Kera Williams, of Rasta Corner in Free Town...

jamaica-gleaner.com

This snippet from the end of the article blew my mind:
"Between 2010 and 2020, more than 15,000 children have been reported missing in Jamaica.

Statistics from the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) indicate that between 2017 and 2021, a total of 6,686 reports of missing children were made at police stations across the island. Of that number, 5,106 were located, while 1,560 remain unaccounted for."

 

[modesty blaise]

What sticks out is the time frame.
Not having eyes on a 2yr old for a couple of hrs is side eye worthy. I hope the little guy turns up soon.

 

[Unsolved]

How a 2-year-old boy vanished in Clarendon

The mother of missing two-year-old Jahmeal Mendez believes that a sudden urge to scroll through photos of her young son might have been an omen that something was wrong. That intuition caused 26-year-old Kera Williams, of Rasta Corner in Free Town...

jamaica-gleaner.com

This snippet from the end of the article blew my mind:
"Between 2010 and 2020, more than 15,000 children have been reported missing in Jamaica.

Statistics from the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) indicate that between 2017 and 2021, a total of 6,686 reports of missing children were made at police stations across the island. Of that number, 5,106 were located, while 1,560 remain unaccounted for."

I also saw this mention and wondered about the time this happened:

"A man undertaking construction work at their home indicated that little Jameal came back to the house, but he had not seen him leave, the mother said".

I can't shake my foreboding feeling about all this.

 

[Seni]

A week of hell

It has been a week of torture and sleepless nights for 29-year-old Jameal Mendez, Sr since the mystery disappearance of his only child, a two-year-old boy named after him. While the family, concerned neighbours and the police have combed multiple...

jamaica-gleaner.com

Snippet:

Head of operations of the Clarendon Police Division, Deputy Superintendent Anton-Gur Cardoza, told The Gleaner that other agencies have joined the investigations into the infant’s disappearance.

“When we get information about possible locations, we search immediately. ... We haven’t gotten any good lead as it relates to where the child is, but we are continuing with the investigation,” he said.

Cardoza said that intelligence suggests the child is still alive, but declined to give details, citing the sensitive nature of the case.

 

[Allabouttrial]

This part from the article could explain in part why he wasn't checked up on sooner.

.......
The mother of missing two-year-old Jahmeal Mendez believes that a sudden urge to scroll through photos of her young son might have been an omen that something was wrong.

That intuition caused 26-year-old Kera Williams, of Rasta Corner in Free Town, Clarendon, to go checking on her son, who had left for the neighbour’s home, where he usually plays with other toddlers on Thursday afternoon.
.......

The mum and dad appear to be doing interviews and trying to get the word out.

.......
“Everywhere mi go, a me and mi baby. Either me or him father. Like how him go down a mi neighbour house, him nah spend one hour down there. If him miss me, him come check on mi,” the mother told The Gleaner.

She contends that the police are not doing enough to help locate her son.

“The police dem nah push out the most effort fi help look fi mi child. When dem a come, a nuh more than ‘bout three a dem a come. You can’t come with three police fi look fi somebody ... . Come with soldier, police, helicopter, dog, and everything,” she said.

.......

Mendez, a taxi operator, theorises that Baby Jameal’s love for cars could have made him susceptible to people who prey on children.

“Mi a pree seh if him see a Probox car, him will seh, ‘Dada’, and dem just stop and tek him up and gone. From him a baby, when me wash the car, a mi and him. If mi in the car, him come climb up in me lap and take the steering wheel seh him a drive. Him love car like that,” explained the father.

Mendez is puzzled that no one in the community seems to know what could have possibly happened to his child.

He is making a desperate plea for the safe return of his son.

“Mi a beg dem, please. No matter what. If a even a case where dem have mi baby and want something, make the demands and mi see if mi can reach up to it or whatever,” he appealed.
.......

 

[LovesPeace2]

Dang there’s been no new updates that I can find , so sad

 

[YaYa_521]

Two-year-old's Disappearance Being Treated As Possible Kidnapping
30 May 2022
SBM

...investigated as a possible kidnapping.

...detained a man for questioning in connection with the case.

The 27-year-old suspect was held on Monday afternoon during an operation in Effortville, Clarendon.

...he reportedly contacted Jameal's family and demanded a ransom of $1 million for his safe return.

...suspect has denied kidnapping Jahmeal.
#more at link

 

[YaYa_521]

Family Appeals For More Public Support In Search For Two Year-old Jameal Mendez
16 May 2022
SBM
...disappointed that there has not enough public support for the effort to find him. [snip] ...the family needs assistance from more persons.

 

[CastlesBurning]

I'm wondering what exactly is meant by "next door" - in some places, it might be a matter of feet between one family's door and another's; in other places, it might be a considerable distance and/or including tall bushes, fencing, etc that could easily block a toddler from view.

 

[CastlesBurning]

Just Googled Jameal...no updates I could find...

 

[YaYa_521]

Mother Of Missing Clarendon Child Appeals For More Help To Find Him

Keira Williams, the mother of the two-year-old Jameal Mendez, who was taken from his home in Rasta Corner, Clarendon sixty-nine

radiojamaicanewsonline.com

August 8, 2022
SBM

...she spoke with the investigating officer last week. However the police are yet to make a break through.
#

Where's Jameal?

 

[CastlesBurning]

This baby was still missing as of November, but I can't find anything further...anyone? It will soon be one year.

Six months of pain for family of missing 2-y-o

 

[Unalienable Rights]

12 painful months without baby Jameal - Missing Clarendon child’s mother confident she will see him again

May 12 will mark 12 long and weary months since Kera Williams saw her son, Jameal Mendez Jr, who was two years old when he went missing from his home in Rasta Corner in Free Town, Clarendon. Williams told THE WEEKEND STAR that the pain of not...

jamaica-star.com

May 12 will mark 12 long and weary months since Kera Williams saw her son, Jameal Mendez Jr, who was two years old when he went missing from his home in Rasta Corner in Free Town, Clarendon.

Williams told THE WEEKEND STAR that the pain of not knowing her baby's whereabouts was increased on April 5, Jameal's birthday.

***********
Detective Ali-Jade Johnson, who oversees the missing persons portfolio at the May Pen Police Station in Clarendon, told THE WEEKEND STAR that the police are getting little information. He assured, however, that the police are working assiduously to ascertain information into baby Jameal's disappearance. He also discouraged citizens from leaning to what he described as an "old time methodology" of waiting until 24 hours have passed to report a person missing to the police.

More at link.