The mother of missing Lightfoot man Noah Hurst believes there is a 95 percent chance that human remains found at the Diamond Estate three months ago belong to her son.
On June 19, police found a partly decomposed body and the families of a number of missing people were called in to identify the remains and take DNA tests to facilitate official confirmation.
Maria Hurst told Observer that she recognised the clothes shown to her by the police, including the hair on the body found, which was braided.
“They showed me some clothing; I know this is my son’s clothes. I am 90 to 95 percent sure because I know his clothing. The braided hair as well…I saw that. My son has long thick hair, and I am the one who braided his hair so I recognised that as well,” she said.
Although Maria is sure that the remains are Noah’s she said police had told her she should await forensic confirmation before making assumptions.
“But I know my son, I know my child. Noah lived with me, he is my only child…I know his clothes, and I know his hair,” she added.
Noah, 24, was last seen on May 23. The family sounded the alarm days after he was found not to be in his bedroom as expected, while repeated calls to his cell phone went unanswered. His mobile phone was subsequently found in his room.
His mother believes he was killed.
“I knew something was wrong when I couldn’t find Noah. I just want to know why they killed my son. Am I a mother dog? Should they kill my child and throw him in the bushes like a dog?
“They could have killed him in front of my yard and left him there for me…What was the motive for killing my only son?” she questioned.
Meanwhile, she claimed police have been dragging their feet on the matter and not treating her son’s case seriously.
“I kept going to the police station over and over. They treated me like I was being disgusting. Their body language was telling me, she again? They don’t care. It is like nothing to them.
“From the beginning I have been going to them, and they treat the situation like I made a report that cucumbers were stolen from my yard. They treat the matter as if it wasn’t a human being that is missing,” she said.
She claimed that after sitting on a police desk for several months, her son’s phone was finally shipped to Barbados to be unlocked since lawmen could not crack the security pattern.
“His phone has a pin pattern, and we couldn’t crack it. We gave the police the phone and the phone was just sitting there. I took an entire week off from working, walking up and down to find answers,” she said.
Along with her husband, Maria said she went to the mobile provider to obtain a copy of her son’s cell phone records and found that he had spoken to a young man the evening of his disappearance.
“I told that to the police. I gave them his number, and they called him in. The boy reported that he and Noah were chatting. The records show they talked about four times that night for several minutes…the boy was questioned and released…” she explained.
Maria said she felt like she was doing the job of the police and continues to be baffled at their apparent nonchalant attitude towards human life.
Police say their investigations continue and that several persons have been interviewed, including the young man who last spoke to Noah before his disappearance.
Anyone with information on Noah’s whereabouts should contact the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at 462-3913/462-3914, or the nearest police station. Noah’s family can also be contacted at 772-8018.
The number of people who go missing without trace in Antigua has long caused concern among residents. Some of the most recent include Winston ‘Mohammed’ Charles who was last seen at his Liberta home on August 27.
The list also includes Steadman Christian, a man in his 60s who went missing in English Harbour on August 3, and Kevin Millet Junior, 18, last seen on March 17.
