Antigua's disturbing disappearances

A Caribbean island, home to fewer than 100,000 people, is grappling with an unexplained rise in missing persons, leaving families desperate and police scrambling for leads.

In recent years, an "ever-increasing number of people" on Antigua have vanished "without trace" in what some residents are calling an "epidemic" of disappearances, said the BBC.

'Speculation is rife'

Exact numbers are hard to come by, but according to research by Antigua.News, at least 100 people are currently missing without a trace in Antigua. On an island of "just 108 square miles", this disproportionate number of disappearances is "particularly perplexing", said the BBC.

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One islander who spoke to the broadcaster said he had collected a list of 60 missing Antiguans whose disappearances have not been resolved. Men accounted for "roughly two in three" of the missing, with ages ranging from teenagers to those in their 70s.

The discovery of the body of missing nine-year-old Chantel Crump in March, three days after she disappeared outside her home, marked a particularly "dark chapter" and "deepened public outrage", said Dominica News Online.

In response to Crump's death, the Concerned Citizens group – a volunteer organisation that has led searches for several missing Antiguans – presented plans for an alert system modelled on the US "Amber Alert". The "Chantel Alert" would notify the community instantly when a child is reported missing via TV and radio bulletins, phone notifications and electronic billboards, said the island's The Daily Observer.

Meanwhile, "speculation is rife", said the BBC. Some point towards an "under-resourced and under-paid police force", while others have suggested "sinister" motivations including "organ trafficking" and gang initiation killings.

The island's "swathes of bushland" make concealing a body relatively easy while making searches more difficult.

A 'raft of new measures'

Antigua and Barbuda's acting police commissioner, Everton Jeffers, "has assured the public that the police are committed to resolving these cases", said Island Press Box, but "history suggests that limited resources, inconsistent follow-ups, and a lack of forensic advancements have hindered past investigations".

But with the "alarming pattern of disappearances" showing no signs of slowing down, a specialist task force has been launched to tackle the issue, said The Daily Observer. "Solely responsible" for missing persons cases, the team will examine "potential patterns previously overlooked".

The creation of a specialist taskforce is "commendable" and represents a chance at "long-overdue justice" for the families of the missing, said Island Press Box. But solving these cases "will require more than just a new unit": it will take "genuine commitment, better investigative tools, and most importantly, a justice system that refuses to let these cases go cold".