FOREIGN and Caricom Affairs Minister Sean Sobers has “immediately instructed staff” to reach out to officials in Antigua and Barbuda for a status update on the investigation into the disappearance of 21-year-old Thomas Vasquez.
As of May 5, Vasquez had been missing for 21 days on the island. In a phone interview with Newsday on May 5, Sobers his first day in office, said the matter was a high priority for him.
“I made an enquiry. Prior to today, no attempt was made by the ministry to reach out to the Antiguan government.”
Sobers added his ministry would also be liaising with Vasquez’s family “to figure out what is going on,” and a request has been made to the immigration division for records and information regarding Vasquez’s travel history.
“We have already sent out correspondence. I have been following the case closely, so I took the opportunity to immediately see how we can assist the family.”
Vasquez first visited Antigua in 2024 after being invited by a fellow Trinidadian, a Rastafarian priest. He spent eight weeks working on what was believed to be a legal marijuana farm.
However, on May 2, a police officer involved in the investigation told Newsday that the farm may not have had the proper documentation, despite being a long-standing and widely known operation.
Vasquez visited Trinidad on April 6 and left on April 14. The officer noted that Vasquez, during his time in Antigua, may have travelled undetected by boat between other islands.
A couple was questioned by police in Antigua and subsequently released. The farm was also searched by officers, and evidence seized. However, there have been no updates from the police since then, nor has the Antiguan government or police contacted Vasquez’s mother, Candy Jageshar, who remains in Trinidad.
She has been instrumental in keeping her son’s case in the public spotlight through frequent Facebook posts.
An emotionally exhausted Jageshar briefly spoke with Newsday on May 5 and said she is hopeful Sobers’ intervention will spark progress in her son’s case.
Before concluding in a soft, trembling voice, pausing for a moment, she said, “I just want to tell my son, wherever he is: Mommy misses and loves you very much.”
Over the last decade, a mysterious and troubling phenomenon has gripped the small island of Antigua. The island has a disturbing number of unexplained disappearances.
