ALMOST three years after American travel writer Claudia Kirschhoch, went missing while vacationing in Negril, the local police have still not given up their search.

Investigators say they continue to receive information on her whereabouts and as soon as these leads are received, checks are made and operations are carried out in a bid to find her.

Kirschhoch was among a group of US travel writers who arrived in the island on May 24, 2000, en route to Cuba. After the group was denied permission to travel to that Communist country, they decided to stay on the island’s northwest coast, and the Sandals hotel chain provided accommodation for them.

Kirschhoch and another writer, Tanya Grossinger, opted to stay at Beaches Negril. Grossinger checked out as scheduled, but Kirschhoch missed her June 1 check out date, and has not been seen since. Her disappearance was widely covered in the international and local media, and a US$50,000 reward was offered for information about her whereabouts.

Her parents, Fred and Mary-Ann, also enlisted the help of US secretary of state Colin Powell, who promised to continue to pursue the issue of their daughter’s disappearance with the Jamaican Government.

According to Fred Kirschhoch, anonymous letters, e-mail and phone calls were sent to the police through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which was also probing the case.

A sniffer dog trained at locating missing persons was brought in from the US to assist with the search, and on the whole, the young woman’s parents have expressed satisfaction with the local police’s handling of the investigations into their daughter’s disappearance.

The police are asking anyone with information as to Kirschhoch’s whereabouts to call Crime Stop at 1888-991-4000, 927-5000, the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) at 1888-2255-226, 978-2214, 119 or the nearest police station.