The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

IT HAS been three days since 49-year-old Rufus Frederick Storr disappeared in waters off Cabbage Beach but his family says they are still “nowhere close” to knowing what happened to him.

Police provided few details on Storr’s disappearance, other than to say he was last seen on Paradise Island around 3.15pm on Sunday. Sandra Rolle, Storr’s aunt, said she along with other family members met with officers of the Central Detective Unit around 2pm yesterday.

However, she said the officers provided her with no information and it seemed like the meeting was just a formality.

“It’s like they met with us just to say they met with us, because they didn’t say anything. We haven’t gotten anything from them. No one saying nothing to us.

“All we are hearing is conflicting stories but no one has yet to come to us and say ‘This is officially what happened.’ We are on pins and needles just waiting for answers,” she said.

“We are still praying for life. We are hoping he is on one of the cays. He is a good swimmer so we are hoping he made it to land.

“We need help right now, they should have officers in boats going to the cays looking. We don’t need no talking, time is of the essence. He could be dehydrated somewhere.

“They could at least make an effort. And this woman who was the last person to see him alive, they need to question her some more, because many different stories are not making any sense to us.”

The Tribune understands, Storr went missing after he took a woman, an employee of the Ocean Club, for a ride on his jet ski.

Sources say after the pair left the beach, the woman was picked up out of the water about half an hour later.

She was wearing Storr’s life jacket and he was nowhere in sight. His jet ski was discovered a few minutes later against some rocks.

The woman is said to have told police she and Storr went for a ride on the jet ski, and he decided he wanted to go for a swim when they were in deeper water.

She said she told him she did not know how to swim, so Storr left her on the jet ski and went alone. The woman claims he never resurfaced. She was picked up a short time later by a passerby in a boat.

Defence Force officers have been combing the waters around Paradise Island searching for the missing man, as have his fellow jet ski owners.

Storr is the father of three. Anyone with information concerning his whereabouts is asked to contact police immediately.

In a statement, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force said they are continuing their search for Storr on and around Rose Island, Cabbage beach, Athol Island and Salt Cay.