Female constable in Donaldson disappearance case off front-line duty
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The female district constable who is being investigated in the case of missing social media influencer, Donna-Lee Donaldson, has been removed from front-line duty by the Police High Command as the probe deepens, OBSERVER ONLINE has learnt.
Attorney-at-law Oswest Senior-Smith explained that this move by the Police High Command did not mean that the district constable had been formally named as a suspect and maintained that the move did not imply any wrongdoing on the part of his client.
“She is still at work, she has not been interdicted, or suspended. She has been removed from front-line duties by the JCF pending the outcome of the investigation, but that does not mean that she has been formally named as a suspect,” Senior-Smith told OBSERVER ONLINE.
He believes that the public pressure created by recent protests and intense media scrutiny has pushed the police force to act with full transparency in the case to reassure the public.
Donaldson was reported missing on July 13. According to police reports, on July 11, about 10:00 pm, Donaldson was picked up at her house by her boyfriend Constable Noel Maitland in a black BMW motor car to spend the night with him at an apartment located at Chelsea Manor in Kingston.
However, on July 12, Donaldson’s mother, Sophia Lugg, reported to police that she had not seen or heard from her daughter.
Reports further indicated that Constable Maitland from Constant Spring Police Station, who is the father of a child for a district constable at the Half-Way-Tree Police Station, told Lugg that Donaldson left his apartment on Tuesday, July 12, sometime after 11:00 am and has not been seen or heard from since.
The police have repeatedly told the public that they are treating the case as a high priority one. Several public protests have been held to highlight the social media influencer’s disappearance in the Corporate Area, and at least one protest has been planned for the UK.
In the meantime, Senior-Smith noted that there have been many false and erroneous reports being propagated online by social media influencers who have been making baseless claims regarding his client’s role in Donaldson’s disappearance. He hinted that his client may soon be taking legal action against the offending parties.
“We will be pursuing remedies from the various social media platforms at the appropriate time,” Senior-Smith said.
