Meanwhile, Shadow Minister & Leader of the Opposition the Hon. Sharlene Cartwright in a statement added that "My Party is deeply saddened by the rapid evolving headlines over the past week of a young lady being missing, discovery of a dead body and now confirmation of the body: that of the missing 26 yr old Dominican National, Yuneiry Veras in Providenciales. We had hoped that she would have been found alive but are grateful for this closure for her family and friends. We wish to offer our deepest and sincerest sympathy to her family and friends and to say to you that it is our prayer that God comfort you all during this experience.
Providenciales and Turks and Caicos Islands are losing their identity and are not what we knew them to be. We accept that things can and will change with expansion in population and other areas of development but there are certain things that we cannot and must not accept and these type of crimes can never be allowed to become commonplace in our societies. The senseless loss of a young life is a great tragedy and a further indication of the little value that some seem to place on human life. As a woman, I condemn this act against this young woman and call on all women to exercise great caution recognizing that women have fallen prey to violent and deadly crimes in recent history.
I however wish to remind us all that we all have a part to play in fighting crime which has waged a war against us. It is up to us, as well as the Police as to whether this matter will become a cold case or not. We are grateful that the Police has already opened a homicide investigation and we join them on calling on the people of this Island to lend any assistance you can to investigators.
We say to those of you who may have seen or heard something to come forward and do not dismiss anything as irrelevant or immaterial. I am a firm believer in the integrity of Crime Stoppers and its commitment to protecting the identity of callers and I encourage use of the call Crime Stoppers tip hotline 18008477. Your identity is protected and your assistance is greatly needed and appreciated.
I will never weary of calling for greater resources and modern crime fighting initiatives for the Police but equally I will never weary in calling on the people of this country to fulfill its obligation in this important partnership of People/Police.
I have recently released a 12 Point Crime Plan and know these initiatives will do much to aggressively tackle crime. We cannot allow crime, especially of this nature to affect our peace of minds, our means and way of life, and our reputation. We must do what we can to ensure that Turks and Caicos Islands is a safe place to live and do business."
