The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

SEARCHES at sea have been called off for a 28-year-old Eight Mile Rock man who went missing almost two weeks ago, according to his mother.

Police informed Natasha Ferguson this week that all searches at sea for her son have been discontinued by rescuers and the US Coast Guard. However, police continue to look for the man on land, she said.

She said she would “keep the faith” but said Shaquille Ferguson, who has a mental condition and requires medication, was wearing underwear and a cloth around his waist when he went in waters off Lover’s Beach.

According to a missing person’s flyer posted by police, Mr Ferguson, of Hepburn Town, Eight Mile Rock, is six feet tall and weighs 190 pounds.

He has a dark brown complexion, with dark brown eyes, and short dreadlocks. He was last seen in a dinghy boat at Lover’s Beach, clad in grey Hanes briefs and a multi-coloured scarf around his waist.

Ms Ferguson received a call from police this week regarding an update of search efforts.

“The police called me to tell me about their investigation. They said they searched the Berry Islands and West End. They said the Coast Guard and several boats were out searching for three or four days and they didn’t find nothing,” she said. “They told me they have exhausted the search at sea, and are now doing their investigation on land.”

On Sunday, a concerned resident contacted police following the discovery of a partially decomposed body in the Tyne Beach area. The male victim was clad only in multi-coloured boxer underwear.

Acting Deputy Commissioner of Police Theophilus Cunningham said police did not have a positive ID of the victim and that an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.

Ms Ferguson told The Tribune that her son has suffered from a mental condition from the age 18 and was on medication. She said he did not want people to know because he feared they would think he was mentally challenged, she said.

She said that her son was spotted drifting on the bottom part of a jet ski, and not a dinghy as initially reported. Some people saw him, yet no one alerted the authorities, said the mother.

“He had a piece of cloth tied around his waist and a boxer. He was naked, no shoes, no shirt,” said Ms Ferguson.

“I have 11 children and he is my 10th. That is my baby boy, and everyone is taking it hard. This is very hard for me, right now,” she said. “Today, is 12 days he has been missing.”

She described her son as a quiet person. He had been employed for three months during a recent road cleanup project and had purchased a vehicle.

Ms Ferguson said that her son had a mental issue and whenever he smoked marijuana he would “trip out”. She said sometimes he would go swimming out to the jetty. She recalled that her husband almost drowned trying to rescue him.

“Sometimes at 3am my husband and I are out there looking for him when he on them trips. When he smokes, it would trip him. So, he would not know himself and would not know what he is doing. He would cut up himself, but he doesn’t harm anybody,” she said.

Ms Ferguson said her son told her he had stopped smoking marijuana many years ago, but had since resumed the habit.

“I was dealing with him and this since he was 18 years old. But he did not want to admit that he had a problem because he did not want people to see him as retarded. He refused to accept the fact that he needed medication. So, I would put his medication in his tea,” she said.

“When I went to Nassau, I did not give him anything going on three weeks because he was doing so good. I did not think to say let me put it in there just in case he goes and smokes.”

When she called home to check on him, she heard that her son had gone out swimming.

“He went into the water. He jumped in something, but it was not a boat; it was the bottom part of a jet ski. He was sitting in it and drifted off,” said Ms Ferguson.

She said that a woman saw him sitting on a small object drifting at sea.

“The woman said that he was sitting with his hands folded and just staring, and he did not wave like he was in any distress. She watched him drift by. And then, some guys at the Fish Fry (in EMR) also saw him drifting around there.”

Ms Ferguson believes that her son was also spotted as far as West End.

“Some fellas in West End said it looked like a man in a little boat and that he was just sitting there,” she recalled.

Despite the sightings, she said no one called the police to report it.

“I hope he is fine; He is in God’s care. I am not going to give up until God says so. I will keep the faith that God will give me closure,” Ms Ferguson said.

Police are actively investigating three recent missing person’s reports, including a young girl in Freeport, and a 56-year-old woman of Eight Mile Rock.