Woman safe after abduction at knifepoint
(CNS): UPDATED: Police have confirmed that they have taken the car into evidence which belongs to the 29-year-old woman who was abducted on Monday evening by a man armed with a knife in the vicinity of Caribbean Bakery on Mount Pleasant Road. Although the car belonged to the victim she was forced by her attacker to drive it to the Barkers area before she escaped uninjured. Police said the 911 Emergency Communications Centre received a call at approximately 8:20 pm on Monday, 9 March,from a member of the public reporting that they had found a woman in a distressed state in the vicinity of Pappagallo Restaurant, West Bay.
The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) responded to the scene and found the woman in a very distressed condition. She has since told officers that she was driving home when she stopped at the Caribbean Bakery. She says that when she got back into her vehicle, there was a man armed with a knife inside. She told police that he forced her to drive into the Barkers area where he told her to get out of the car. The woman then ran away.
“This woman has been exceptionally brave,” said Acting Chief Superintendent Marlon Bodden. “What happened to her must have been terrifying and the incident is being taken extremely seriously.” Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department are conducting an enquiry and Bodden said he was determined to find the man who did this. “We have a team of officers working on this case,” he said.
The suspect is described as around 6-foot tall, of slim build and dark complexion, and he was wearing dark clothes. Anyone who was in the West Bay area, in particular in the area of the Batabano Plaza or the Caribbean Bakery between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm, who may have seen something suspicious, is asked to contact George Town CID on 949-4222.
Police are also calling on the public to always be aware of their surroundings, always consider crime prevention measures and do everything they can to remain safe.
“Always lock your car, the doors and windows of your home and always have your personal safety in mind,” said Chief Superintendent Bodden. “Never accept or give rides to strangers, be aware of your surroundings and do everything you can to make sure you minimize your risk of becoming a victim of crime.”
If you want further information on personal safety, you can visit the RCIPS website at www.rcips.ky for tips and advice. Click on Crime Prevention and follow the links. You can also contact your local neighbourhood officers through your nearest police station.
• George Town; 949-4222
• West Bay; 949-3999
• Bodden Town; 947-2220
• East End; 947-7411
• North Side; 947-9411
• Cayman Brac; 948-0991
• Little Cayman; 948-0100
Anyone with information about crime taking place in the Cayman Islands should contact their local police station or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477 (TIPS). All persons calling Crime
Stoppers remain anonymous, and are eligible for a reward of up to $1000, should their information lead to an arrest or recovery of property/drugs.
Category: Headline News
Dear Dennie and Anonymous @ 03/11/2009 – 17:17 – Forgive me if anyone was offended by me saying that Cayman Brac is, at this present time, still safer than Grand Cayman! Please let me know what I personally can do to make myself feel more safer here on this island.? Let me know what WE can do? I’ve signed your petitions! I am very aware of my surroundings! I report suspicious activity! I try to teach my child how to be safe and what to do if they should find themselves in an unpleasant situation! I make my home as safe as possible day and night! I pray to the good Lord above for his protection and guidance! What else do you all suggest that I do?! Other than leave!?
Thank you Ms. Bush for understanding how I feel and for your apology. May God bless us alland keep us safe! I am right there with you! I know how you feel and I completely understand. If it’s any consolation, I sleep with a shovel and machete under my bed and a chair jammed under my bedroom door lock at night!:)
A few weeks ago I went to a place on the islands to take an evening class. When I arrived, there was no parking left close to the front of the building, and the only parking I could find was way in the back (an area that wasn’t well lit and surrounded by many bushes). A Security Guard was seemingly on duty, but he was stationed towards the front of the building and I wasn’t sure if he would still be around when I was leaving later that evening. Anyway, I wasn’t happy about having to park in the back and in the dark but figured I would suck it up and just be very alert on my way back to the car. As I walked towards the front of the building, I noticed that a car was pulling out of a spot that was close to the building and in an area that was well lit. I asked the Security Guard if he could please hold this space for me while I run back to get my car to park it in that very spot. To my complete amazement, the response I got was "Why", why I had an issue with parking in the back area and he didn’t see the point of me moving my car aound". HELLOOOOO! What could my issue have been I wonder? Of course I told him again to hold that space and went to get my car to re-park. Can you believe it? We are supposed to watch out for each other, and especially women should exercise all caution. What good is a Security Guard if he is only concerned that the premises are not disturbed but doesn’t seem to care what is going to happen to any customers or clients. To all women – if this ever happens to you, I hope you are doing the right thing and don’t listen to some ignorant person who is seemingly living clueless about what potential harms could be around.
To BRACKER at 12:34, I agree with your views 100%. I am also from the Brac and basically forced to live and work here due to limited job opportunities over in the Brac. I’m a divorced mother who also have a child to support but I can assure you if I am successful with the many attempts that I’ve made over the past year to obtain a job on my island, I will be catching the first twin otter flight home because of the way Grand Cayman has drastically changed. I have nothing personally against Grand Cayman but people are no longer safe here in their homes, cars etc. and gone are days when we can take a nap on our front/back porch with the screen door open.
I AM A BRACKER and very proud of it! I was trying NOT to specifically say that to avoid any conflict! So much for that thought!! I’ve been living on Grand Cayman for almost 20 years! And I’ve seen so many changes on this island it’s just sickening!! Cayman Brac is not like it is here….and thank God for that! Unfortunately that’s probably going to change one day and it will be just as bad is it here! That’s why I said I hate it here and want to go back to my own island! My island of Cayman Brac! I do NOT feel safe here! I live here alone with my child and I live in fear! If I had the pleasure of packing up my bags and moving back to a much safer environment such as Cayman Brac I WOULD! But I have an obligation to my child to do the best I can to ensure that they have the best future possible! One of my own childhood friends was violently and maliciously murdered on this island just 5 months ago! Now I have to deal with the loss of another friend through violent and malicious acts! HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL AS A SINGLE WOMAN RAISING A CHILD AND LIVING ON MY OWN!? And people are not as they used to be in your neighbourhood anymore! No one looks out for their neighbour! No one speaks to you! In fact my immediate neighbours are not even Caymanians! Everyone sticks to themselves so if anything were to even happen where I live! My neighbours are certainly not going to be the ones to help me because half of them I don’t even know and the other half I never see unless I see them driving in and out of their yards! It’s NOT like that in Cayman Brac! We all know each other! If we are not home and someone comes to our house, I guarantee you you will get a call from your neighbour saying that so and so visited your house when you were not there! You might call it nosey, but I call that being a good neighbour! I don’t have that same sense of safety and security on Grand Cayman as I do on Cayman Brac and that’s why I say I hate it here! Where do we turn! Carrying a weapon is an offence! And I personally wouldn’t want to encourage that type of behaviour with my child! How do I make my child feel safe and not instill fear in them and keep myself safe and get rid of all the fear that I harbor inside, when almost every single day that you turn on the radio, tv or read the newspaper there is some insanity happening on this island?! How am I supposed to feel safe when you call the police about what could be seen as suspicious activity and ask them to just do a drive by and they give you attitude for harassing them with such trivial things??!!
Call me paranoid, I don’t care! I just don’t feel safe here anymore! It’s not like it used to be and unfortunately I don’t think it will ever be that way again…I’m just fearful of the future! And maybe it’s a coward way to live…but right now all I want to do is leave here and go back to the safety and security of my own island – CAYMAN BRAC!
And another thing! If you think that there’s no power in prayer…then I suggest you read your bible more often! Because I strongly believe in the power of prayer and I do believe that it is only by the grace of God that we have been kept safe and out of harms way for the majority of my time here! And I will never stop praying to God and asking for his protection over us and I will never stop believing that HE is the one that looks out for us always! Now I’m just praying that HE helps me to make the right decisions on May 20……that’s the only solid idea and strategy that I have right now!
Well we all know what they say about ASSUMPTION…
the violence and sexual abuse towards women is very sad. It appears to have a long history in Cayman and other islands.
There is a woman in Grenada who is on a mission to try save the women from the severe abuse some have been experiencing for years from the men. I watched a documentary on it this week- unbelievable. http://www.cbc.ca/sunday/2009/03/030809_1.html
Perhaps it is time the same importance and exposure was shed on the topic in Cayman. shoo the skeletons out of the closet and free the abused women from the demons they carry around.
Who knows maybe the writer of another sad day is from Cayman Brac or Lil Cayman ever thought of that?
There is no doubt that this behavior is the tip of the iceberg. You can have all the women hero days that you want but until the pastors, the police and especially the judicial system makes these women attackers understand the clear message that violence against women is wrong and will be punished this behavior will continue.
A good example is the man who slammed a conch into the face of a woman and mashed her up . He spent no time in jail. This happened earlier in 2009.
What message was sent to that man?
Here we go again. What is disturbing is that area near Caribbean Bakery has very little street lights. It appears CUC is cutting back as I have never seen more lights out on poles around the island as they are now. Anyway, that may not be the issue but I personally feel that more lighting should be inplace at all commercially operated businesses that sell to the public at night. I remember being approached by persons in the parking lot of Hurleys a few years back at night and after I reported this problem to the management and the police the extra lighting was implemented and still is to this day. Vendors who operate at night and service the public should be forced to put proper lighting in place and should be enforced as a standard policy in order to get your trade and business license renewed etc.
Personally, I stop visiting properties at night that do not offer ample lighting in the parking lots. So to those vendors who feel they don’t have to protect their patrons, no problem, I am not supporting you either.
I am glad that this young woman escaped unharmed, but as I have advocated that West Bay needs more police patrols. Regardless of what time you pass the West Bay Police Station the parking lot is filled with patrol cars and you rarely see them on the road? Why is this I have to ask? I live in West Bay so I can tell you this is a fact. The problem with the West Bay commandos is that they look pretty good in the papers but that is not helping the people of west bay.
I hope we can sort this district out and stop the acts of crime that plague us everyday. God help us!! Thanks for posting this Cayman News Service you are doing a exceptional job.
I’m in tears right now…..Thank you Ms. Twyla Vargas and to the other person who commented at 13:57 for your kind and comforting words….To ROBIN BUSH! I AM A CAYMANIAN!!!!! So obviously that should narrow it done considerably for you which island I am referring to! You obviously have NO CHILDREN and no sense what so ever to understand how I fear for my child and for our future! I HAVE NO WHERE TO RUN TO! I’m a born Caymanian just like you! And if I could leave here and go back to my own island! I sure as hell would because YES! I HATE it here! But this is where I have to live to make a living for my child! Maybe one of these days if God ever blesses you with a child you will understand how I feel! Because you have absolutely NO CLUE what you are saying! Here is a prime example of how people like you spew hate against what you ignorantly assumed had to be another nationality!
Here is a thought, if you say you would like to go back to your’e own Island people are going to assume you are from somewhere else, if you are referring to the old Cayman Islands I suggest we all wake up. There is no going back to the good ole days where we could leave our cars and homes open all day without worry. The good thing about the good ole days is that the communities were smaller and people always knew their neighbours. Now we have so many expats here that is impossible and just because you are Caymanian that does not mean you cannot go somewhere else but do me a favor first and do some research and see if there is anywhere safer than the Cayman Islands right now. If you find anywhere let us all know and we will follow you there. The issue we face now is trying to nip these problems in the bud before they get worse. We can sit down and shout at the top of our lungs that we hate this place but that is not going to help matters. What we need to do is use this forum and others to share ideas on how to combat the issues that we face. On another note we call ourselves a Christian nation but all the praying to God is not going to help us solve these issues, especially since our Pastors seem to be more interested in politics these days than to help tackle the issues we face. What we need are real solid ideas and stratagies. Anyone????
What happened to free speech and having an opinion? I guess no one is entitled to that anymore.
There was no hatred what so ever towards anyone, including yourself. Regardless of being from a sister island. I was only kindly making a suggestion, that might result in a solution for your sincere discomfort here on Grand Cayman. If you cannot leave, I’m sorry to hear that.
No, No children. But I am raising my youngest sibling. We both live alone, in a neighbourhood where everyone minds their own business. I highly doubt anyone would even notice if I screamed for help one night.
I watch my surroundings too, when I go outside to the car. or going anywhere for that matter. I immediately locked the car doors when I get in the car. My apartment, hasnight lights in every corner, so there is no where to hide. My doors are always locked. I had my landlord put on new sturdy locks. I keep a spare cell phone in my home in case of attack, and we lose our phone, in order to call the police. My sister has to keep in touch with me, give me complete details of her where abouts at all times. I live upstairs and still put the locks all the windows. I stay home, rather than attempt to enjoy island life. That’s probably a good reason for my ignorance of who lives here.
But I try not to be so negative about my island. Even though reality is telling us otherwise. I have a sibling who I have to look out for. So I have to be the strong one. Most of the time I wish didn’t have to be and that we lived with our parents. I try not to live in constant fear, and take the precautions to stay safe. And pray that the Lord will keep us girls safe here on this island we call home.
I’m more than sorry that I offended you.
We never really had free speech here. I have this to say to the lady that want’s to go back to Cayman Brac but can’t because she has an obligation to her child. We are all in a catch 22 situation here. As long as we wan’t better jobs and better oppertunities for our children we are going to have to put up with the problems that come with that. We are not the first nation to face this problem and believe you me the Brac and Little Cayman will follow if something is not done. And I am sorry if I offend you by saying this but you can pray to God all you like that will not stop the drugs and guns coming into these Islands. These thugs and drug dealers could car less about God. We have gotten ourselves in this state where everyone says pray for this pray for that but the crime keeps growing. Having faith is one thing but faith and belief will not help us now with these problems. We need to take action and i am sorry if i offend anyone but the Churches don’t seem to be helping. Look how much domestic violence have we seen in the past and tell how much praying about it has helped. Look at the young kids having kids, has praying helped in that area? I hate to say it but less and less Caymanian kids i know are going to Church. They would rather hang out with their friends with nice cars and hit all the bars on a Sunday but yet i still cant go shopping. No, we are happy to sit by and talk about what this Island is coming to but no one seems to have any ideas about how best to go forward. I have heard the politicians with ideas, and soon as they are in office nada. What happened to smoking ban in bars and restaurants? Places like the crisis center can sure use more help but where does that help come from? I am sure everyone at the crisis centere would problably say that they are only starting to scratch the surface of the issues that face women on this Island. If you dont want to live in fear i am sorry but you will most likely have to go back to Cayman Brac because i dont see any changes happening. If Grand Cayman goes then surely the Brac and Little Cayman will go as well. Are we going to sit here and talk about which Island is safe now or are we going to come together as a whole and fix the problems?
Dear Anonymous @ 03/11/2009 – 17:17,
You hit the nail on the head, when you asked, “Are we going to sit here and talk about which Island is safe now or are we going to come together as a whole and fix the problems?"
It is sad that this sort of crime is taking pace in Cayman, but it could be much worse… Crimes like this happen on a daily basis on other Caribbean islands.
I understand what you are saying Tywla, and it is very true. Cayman is definately changing, and not for the better.
The current economic status is affecting our islands, people are losing jobs and getting desperate. Which leads to various crimes, like this one.
But, yes that is a good question what happened to her car, they are no reports of a stolen car.
And to the lady above, NO one is stopping you from leaving Cayman to go back home. You feel that unsafe i suggest you start making preparations. You do not have to say here and deal with what cayman brings.
Us, Caymanians, are the ones who are "stuck" with this problem, Not you! You have to choice to leave we don’t!
Like Ms. Tywla said, we have to take the nessesary precautions to stay safe as women. And hope and pray that we don’t lose another woman.
I live in this West Bay area and I find this all very frightening. I have always been a cautious person locking my car constantly and never lingering around in parking lots, keeping my doors at home locked and blinds closed especially nighttime. I wonder why the Police or the victim have not issued a statement on this matter giving a description of the stolen vehicle; colour, type care, licence number etc that might help in solving this crime. The Public need to have more details if we are expected to help and yes there are those who are willing to help. We need to be careful ladies.
I feel the fear in the stories of these women. I also know that the enemy always uses fear to paralyze us, but God says "Fear not, for I am with you.". Evil abounds around us all the time. If a pastor is killed while in church, what does that say to us? There is no safe place anymore. We must do all we can to protect ourselves, use caution and sound advice from police, security and self defense personnel. But know this, David’s confidence in the Lord in Psalm 23 "ye though I walk thru the valley of shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for though art with me, thy rod and thy staff will comfort me.". …. Praying for your fear to be replaced with peace and comfort.
What about the details of the car? Is he still driving the car? Did anyone see him in the vehicle?
This is just another SAD reminder of what this place has come to! I wish to GOD I could get out of here and go back to my own island….but I can’t! I HATE it here! I live in constant fear! I live alone with my child! And unfortunately my fears are now rubbing off on my child! We live in fear!! I don’t know what to do anymore! I don’t want my child to grow up this way…but I have to always remind them of how careful we need to be! This island is NOT safe anymore! All I can do is pay attention to what I do and where I go, try to be as careful as possible and pray and ask the good Lord above to keep us safe….because I don’t know what else to do anymore….the fear I feel insideis really starting to consume my life and I don’t know what to do about it…
REPLY TO: THIS IS JUST ANOTHER SAD DAY.
My dear, I know exactly how you are feeling. The only comfort I can extend, is what was extended to me. I visit with other women friends and family, enjoy a cup of tea in the morning or evening, discuss positive things, do a little crochet, art & craft. Go out to lunch and dinner when we can afford it. We take each other shopping now, baby sit and stay in touch by phone. Dont be surprised, but there are many other women who feel the way you do. Reach out. Blessed.
I SAID IT WOULD GET WORSE
You know something, I have never let down my guard since what took place with Estella Roberts. That case is so frightening, that any woman in Cayman Islands who do not think seriously about where they go and what they do is gambling with life. It cannot be called safe anymore. My friends usually say to me "Why are you locked up in the day time" Just cant help it now, things have changed, and we do not know who is who and who is thinking what. We just got to be careful of our surroundings. Women please if you have to go somewhere in the night time, take someone else with you, if not be prepared for anything.
This may sound foolish, but you know a few weeks ago I had to visit the supermarket in the night time, and there was not a space vacant close to the building, only around the side and back, which was very, very dark in the parking lot, no lights and no security in sight. Know what I did, I waited for 15 minutes in out front until I could find a space where was active with cars and people.
I feel concerned for this woman, and I am wondering, after she ran away, if the man had taken her car. This can happen to me our you, so we cannot be too careful. Blessed
This is just a drop in the bucket, the legislators are discussing letting the more seasoned criminals out of jail back into society! Imagine what will happen then.
Hats off to the wonderful legislators in Cayman, you are brilliantly sinking this rock back into the sea.