The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

POLICE released the identities and photos of five more residents of Grand Bahama who have not been seen or heard from since the passage of Hurricane Dorian a month ago.

The missing High Rock residents - including a six-year-old boy - all lived at Emmanuel Way. They are Donlock Donny Munnings Jr, 29; J'Vonaje Alejaan Forde, 24; Shirlene Josephine Pinder-Cooper, 48; Ralphaela 'Lavette" Munnings, 53; and Omarion Lawrence Munnings, 6.

Although they are listed as missing, in late September one of their relatives, Pastor Jenese Pinder, told The Tribune the family of seven is feared dead.

Ms Pinder-Cooper and Ms Munnings are his sisters, he said last month, while Mr Munnings Jr and little Omari are his nephew and grand-nephew respectively.

Three days before the storm, Pastor Pinder and his two nephews went around and assisted others in High Rock, particularly the elderly and widowed residents, with battening their houses.

After assisting as many persons as they could, he returned to Freeport. However, Omari and Mr Munnings Jr stayed with his two sisters at their mother's house, which is about 150-ft from the water on the front road along the bayside.

"Somehow, the house collapsed and it was swept off the foundation when the surge came in, and they were swept out the house; we have not seen them since," Mr Pinder said last month.

He said it is hard accepting that they're gone. "It is very devastating," he said, of losing so many loved ones all at once.

He recalled a recent vacation trip to Florida with his sister. "We had recently returned from vacation and we had a wonderful time; we would always go on vacation together and I never knew that would be the last time with her," he said.

Mr Pinder grew up in High Rock and said that his family had expected some damage, but nothing like this.

"They thought that it would be a lot of wind and breeze; that some shingles would blow off - they never thought the surge would flood (the house).

"The family is taking this hard losing so many members in the storm. Their bodies have not been recovered, and so it is much harder for us to have some closure," he said.

Last month, Mr Pinder said some 14 persons are missing from the High Rock community alone. The area had experienced 20-ft surge that reached the roof tops of most homes in the area. Homes, roads, and vehicles were also washed away.

Police are asking anyone with information concerning the whereabouts of missing individuals to contact police in Grand Bahama at 442-2872/2870, 911, 919, or the nearest police station.