The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

NAZ’R Robins’ disappearance at sea has conjured the worst kind of deja vu in his mother.

“This isn’t my first time going through this,” Renee Robins said two weeks after her 25-year-old son and his close friend, James Toote, Jr, 31, went missing while travelling from Grand Bahama to Bimini.

“Two decades ago, my brother went missing, so now, I know how my kids feel and I know how my mom felt. So this is like deja vu, going through this all over again. (My brother) was never found. They found the plane, but my brother was never found, nor the pilot.”

Official search efforts for Mr Robins and Mr Toote, Jr, were called off last week, according to Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association Chairman Eddie Whan. The men were reportedly travelling on a 24ft white trimmed blue vessel when they failed to reach their destination.

Ms Robins remains hopeful but acknowledges that some have concluded the two men are likely dead.

“The officer-in-charge here told me point blank that the type of boat they were in and the weather (that) came down (means) they couldn’t make it because the boat couldn’t take it. So (as) far as he is concerned, my son is dead, but I’m not putting my hopes in that,” she said.

Family members said Mr Robins and Mr Toote have left behind anxious relatives and friends who need closure and are struggling to imagine life without them.

Whitley Brice, Mr Toote Jr’s niece, said her uncle’s four-year-old daughter would celebrate her birthday on Sunday, a milestone that may now take on a sombre tone.

“If I had one wish, my wish would be for God to bring (him) home; we really miss (him),” she said.

“His oldest son is aware (of what happened), and he is very worried. Every day he’s calling and asking if we found his daddy. He’s posting on his WhatsApp status, please help him find his daddy. The other two girls are young and don’t have a full understanding.”

Ms Brice said she and her uncle, whom she described as “full of life,” were close.

“We would talk on the phone. He would fly to Freeport and stay with me at times,” she said.

After the men were declared missing, rumours circulated on social media that US authorities arrested them. However, the family said representatives of the Bahamas Consulate in Miami had denied this.