THE Foreign Affairs Ministry yesterday said that it has, since last August, been in constant contact with its counterpart in the Cayman Islands regarding the investigation into the disappearance of Jamaican nurse Kerran (Kerry-Ann) Baker.
“Through our regular contacts with the Jamaican consulate in Cayman, we have been informed that the police are still investigating the case for hard evidence, and that the process is being followed through thoroughly,” said the ministry in a release to the Observer.
The ministry was responding to an Observer article on Monday in which Baker’s family made an impassioned plea for the Jamaican Government to get involved in the case. According to the family, the Cayman Islands authorities were not forthcoming with information regarding the investigations into Baker’s disappearance.
“We have not been hearing anything from anybody. We need the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get in touch with the Cayman Government because the case seems like it is dying out,” said Wilmot Anthony, Baker’s stepfather, the anguish evident in his voice.
Yesterday, the ministry said it has asked the Cayman Islands authorities to keep the family abreast of the investigations.
“Understanding the sensitivities involved and the grief of Ms Baker’s family, the Consulate Office in Cayman has advised the Royal Cayman Island Police service to fully engage with the family, disclosing the details of the case,” said the release.
Baker, 25, a practical nurse, disappeared from her apartment on Arrow Drive in Bodden Town on the evening of Saturday, July 31. She was last seen on CCTV footage in a Cayman Islands supermarket around 7:00 pm that day.
A man was taken into custody “on suspicion of murder, following a police operation in the Prospect area”, but was later released without charge, Janet Dougall, public relations officer at the Cayman Islands Criminal Investigative Branch headquarters told the Observer last week.
Several major searches have failed to locate Baker, who had lived in the Cayman Islands three years prior to her disappearance. Her white Honda Civic motor car was later found with her car keys and what appeared to be blood smears nearby. Her groceries, which she apparently purchased at the supermarket, were also found in her ransacked apartment.
