OCHO RIOS, St Ann — When his colleague who normally gives him a lift to work didn’t arrive as usual and didn’t answer her phone, Francios Scott knew something was wrong. But it never occurred to him that she might be dead.

Scott’s colleague, Annistescia Edwards, died in a three-vehicle crash in the vicinity of Pear Tree Bottom, Runaway Bay, on Sunday, her CRV burnt beyond recognition. Now Scott and other colleagues at the hotel in Montego Bay where she worked are grieving, and wondering how Edwards’s nine-year-old daughter will cope with the tragedy.

“I had a feeling that she was maybe in some difficulties but I never expected to hear of something so tragic,” a weeping Scott, who lives on the outskirts of Montego Bay, told the Jamaica Observer on Wednesday. “I tried everything to find out if she was OK. I called the police stations in that area and the St Ann’s Hospital to find out if anything had happen but we couldn’t get anything. It was a colleague who lives in the Runaway Bay area that went to the scene and confirmed to us that she was in an accident.”

Scott got the news while at work. He had made his way there when Edwards didn’t show up and he had immediately noticed her car was not in its usual spot.

“It hit me hard and I’m trying to cope but each time at work all I can hear is her calling my name. Other co-workers are actually feeling very sad but I think it hit me so much because I was anticipating to see her the morning of the accident,” he said.

According to Senior Superintendent Dwight Powell, who is in charge of the St Ann police, the crash that claimed the 38-year-old’s life involved two large vehicles.

“A tractor trailer and Honda CRV were travelling west towards Discovery Bay whilst a panel truck was travelling east towards Runaway Bay. The driver of the panel truck strayed into the path of the tractor trailer, hitting the rear wheel of the tractor trailer. The driver of the panel truck then lost control of the vehicle and collided with the CRV, which was travelling behind the tractor trailer. A female, the driver of the CRV, died in the incident,” he said.

On Wednesday, Scott and other still grieving colleagues spoke fondly of Edwards, who had worked as a butler at the hotel since July 2020.

“Anna was second to none; when I talk about very outspoken, punctual she just does her best at everything,” Alexus Bailey told the Observer. “It is just devastating right now for all of us because she was an exemplary worker and a genuine individual. The whole team is in shock because it feels like there is a missing piece to the puzzle. Everybody is mourning.”

Christopher Morally, who also worked with Edwards, said he has had a persistent headache since he heard of her death.

“It is horrible to know she departed in such a manner. I’ve yet to have a proper rest; nothing but constant headache. Even worse when I think of her daughter,” he said.

Colleagues said Edwards’s young daughter, Jayla Boswell, was her pride and joy, and she often spoke of her.

“She loved her daughter so much she never construct a sentence without involving her daughter. Everything that she does was for her, she was her life. This summer she was planning to take her to Disney World and a trip to St Lucia. So I don’t know how her daughter will take it when she finds out there is no mommy,” a glum Scott told the Observer.

— Akera Davis