Mother seeking public help in locating missing son

Meril Antoine is asking for the public’s help in locating her son, who she says has been missing for eight months.

Speaking to SEARCHLIGHT yesterday, Antoine, who resides in Canada, stated that she last spoke to her son Garnet Gillies of Lowmans on February 14, after she helped him with legal trouble.

Antoine said her son, who is 24 and a father of four, has not been seen by any of his other family members for the past eight months.{{more}}

“His father has not seen him since, neither has his brother or any family member,” she stated.

Antoine indicated that prior to this, she and her son would speak every week.

“I am very frustrated …because this is not like Garnet,” she said.

She disclosed to SEARCHLIGHT that two months after February 14 this year, a lady friend of her son, informed Garnet’s father that he had been arrested in Antigua and Barbuda.

Antoine stated that after she received this information, she contacted the Antigua Police Station and made inquiries; however, she was told no one by that name had been arrested.

“I called the coastguard, and they said they have not arrested anyone from St Vincent for the last six months. So there, I know he’s not in Antigua and that was the story that the young lady give to Garnet’s father,” the distraught mother further stated.

She said that a week later, the same lady friend informed them that Garnet was held for entering Antigua without the required documentation and would soon return to St Vincent.

However, according to Antoine, she still could not contact her son, so she requested that a missing person’s report be filed.

Antoine noted that the female friend told persons that she speaks to Garnet; however, up until a month ago she was refusing to disclose his whereabouts to his family members.

“Nearly about a month or two ago she give us a number. The number is not a number, the number is a 12 digit number; there is no country in the world that has a 12 digit number,” she said.

Antoine noted that the same lady later reported to a family member that Garnet was not in Antigua, but was incarcerated in Guadeloupe.

“I’m beginning to get worried that something has happened to him; we don’t know,” the mother stated.

Furthermore, Antoine stressed that if her son had found himself in trouble, he would have reached out to her for help.

“I can’t see why he’s in trouble and he wouldn’t contact me or even his father…I don’t know if my son is dead or if he is alive, if he is in prison somewhere… I don’t know,” she said.

Antoine is pleading with the lady to disclose the whereabouts of her son, so that she can make sure he is safe.

She pointed out that Garnet’s father, along with other members of the family, visited Deputy Commissioner of Police Colin John about a month ago, and he told them that an investigation will be launched.

However, Antoine says that she doesn’t believe that police have been doing all they can to locate Garnet.

“I don’t think the police is doing anything; they not doing anything;” she noted.

“My son is not a saint, but at least he doesn’t have a criminal record in St Vincent and as a mother I need to know what is going on.”

SEARCHLIGHT contacted Deputy Commissioner of Police John, who indicated that checks were made, but they were unable to verify that Garnet had been arrested in Guadeloupe or Antigua. (CM)