The holidays this year will not be the same for one family in Hill Run, St Catherine, which has been searching for a missing relative since October. (From left) Theresa Williams, Crystal Williams, Naomi Williams, Kerren Fraser, Winsome Williams and Abigail Williams are appealing for help in finding Itle Doyle, who was last seen on October 18. At the forefront is a photo of Doyle. - photos by Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer.
For most Jamaican families the Yuletide season represents a time of joy and merrymaking, but for one St Catherine family, the season brings only grief and pain.
The family of Itle Doyle, the 63-year-old senior citizen who went missing in October, has still not had any luck in finding their beloved relative.
Christmas this year will not be the same for the very close-knit family, as the one person who cements the clan will be absent.
"I just dread Christmas coming. I wish it would stay away this year," said Kerren Fraser, the eldest of eight children for Doyle. "I just can't imagine spending Christmas without her."
Doyle, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, went missing from her daughter's home in Hill Run, St Catherine, about noon on Saturday, October 18. She was last seen by an eyewitness a few miles away from home in Red Gate, Hill Run - an extremely forested expanse of land used mainly for bird shooting.
The Gleaner last week took a visit to the pastoral community, hidden by the inclines of St Catherine, to meet with members of the family.
Holiday celebrations have been put on hold for Fraser and her family, as they have become consumed with an intense search, which has taken them almost across the entire island.
"Normally I would be planning for Christmas, cooking, baking and all of that, but right now everything is at a standstill for me," Fraser told The Gleaner. "It's like I just cannot deal with things normally. Even when I'm at work, I just break down and cry," she said.
"Some Christmas we would all gather here (at my sister's home) or over by my brother's house for dinner, we would just cook and bake and have a good time together."
But not this year. The holidays will be spent the same way they have spent the last two months - searching for their missing mother and grandmother.
"I can't count how many searches we've done," said Fraser. "We've combed the entire area on many, many occasions. At one time, 60 men came down - co-workers, church members, friends, neighbours - and we search everywhere."
Fraser said she has visited almost all the major towns of all 14 parishes looking for her mother.
"We have gone to Old Harbour, Spanish Town, Portland, St Elizabeth, Kingston, Mandeville, May Pen, Papine, St Mary, St Thomas - every weekend I'm in a different parish, just handing out flyers, trying to find her," she said.
"I've been to the markets, hospitals, shopping areas, infirmaries, police stations and even the morgues in all those places," she added.
"It's not easy, but I can't give up," she said. "I have to find something, some evidence of what happened to her or where she is."
The family is also asking for more assistance from the police.
"It's like I've reached a stage now where I've exhausted the search and I don't know where else to turn," said Fraser. "I sincerely wish I could get some assistance."
Since Doyle's disappearance, the police have only assisted once in the search, a week after she went missing, Fraser said.
"We reported it the same Saturday night and they told us we should come back the Tuesday, because it was a weekend and Monday was a holiday."
Doyle's 15-year-old granddaughter, Crystal Williams, has been involved in most of the searches for her grandma. She, too, is anxious for her return.
"I remember when she would come over and run me down and tickle me and we would play and laugh," said Crystal, recollecting happier moments with her grandparent. "I really miss her."
athaliah.reynolds@gleanerjm.com
Kerren Fraser (front), eldest daughter of Itle Doyle, takes relatives on a tour of the last spot at which the 63-year-old was seen.