SATURDAY, March 16, 2020 was the last time Tiffany Murray’s family saw her. Since then they have been clinging to the hope that she will return home safe, even as they wonder what could have happened to her.

Almost five years ago, 28-year-old Tiffany left her Palemento Grove house in St Mary after responding to an advertisement on social media about vacancies at a hotel in Montego Bay, St James. She never returned home.

Tiffany’s sister Denise — who was the only family member who knew of her job prospect — told the Jamaica Observer that it was because she was preoccupied with her exams why she didn’t enquire more about the weekend job interview which she found strange.

“She normally tells me things but that morning, I didn’t have time to listen. She called me but I couldn’t answer as I was doing my exams, and the teacher wouldn’t allow me to answer the phone. I called her back, but she didn’t answer so I assumed she would return the call,” said Denise.

That call was never returned.

The family became anxious when they didn’t see Tiffany return home and calls to her cellular phone went unanswered.

The matter was reported to the police and a search launched but they came up empty-handed.

Tiffany is the last of 10 children for Coralee and Trevor Murray and was deciding on her future although she was a trained practical nurse.

“We had a neighbour who was over 90 years old and Tiffany was the one who took care of her until she died. That neighbour asked her children, who were overseas… to help her go back to school,” Denise recalled.

She pointed out that Tiffany moved to Kingston, while her mother was there, and did a course in practical nursing. On completing the course she worked as a caregiver for a disabled child. That job didn’t last long as the arrangements that were made with the mother fell through. This led to her returning to St Mary where she found work at a gas station in Trinity.

“She worked at the gas station for a few months,” Denise recalled as she described her sister as the go-getter and positive one in the family. She noted that Tiffany was working at the gas station up to the time of her disappearance.

According to Denise, both parents have been dealing with the situation differently.

“Daddy and Tiffany were close. He doesn’t talk about it but shows he’s hurting. He drinks and smokes more. He sometimes calls us Tiffany,” Denise told the Observer.

Her mother, she said, is showing the best outside but clearly needs closure.

Mother Coralee, who was overseas at the time her daughter went missing, is now wondering if this would have happened had she been in Jamaica.

“I wasn’t here when she got messed up, I was overseas. If she had communicated with me and told me that she was going on a job interview in Montego Bay I would have asked her if she was mad and if she don’t see how MoBay hot,” Coralee told the Observer.

“Me or her father never know about it,” the distraught mother said with a shake of her head as she described her daughter as a hard worker who was committed to her Christian faith and very secretive.

“Tiffany was quiet, she worked hard, from work to church. She didn’t have a boyfriend or any children,” the mother said, adding that the trauma of her daughter’s disappearance made her very sick upon returning home.

“When she went missing the kids didn’t want me to come back to Jamaica, but I couldn’t stay,” added Coralee who questions whether she has done enough to find her daughter.

“Apart from the police, the bigger ones (siblings) went in search of her in Montego Bay, but nothing,” Coralee said with a shrug of her shoulders.

She, however, has not given up the thought that her child might still be alive. With the family supporting each other, plus the support of members of the Palmento Grove New Testament church where she worships, the distraught mother continues to hope.

“I had a church member who said that she [Tiffany] dream her and told her that she soon be home,” said Coralee.

“It’s since the year start that I said to myself that it’s five years and we don’t hear anything from the police. I wonder if they done with the case?” the mother questioned.

“I called Tiffany’s phone many times and it rang without an answer, but this one time a woman answered. I said to her, ‘What are you doing with my daughter’s number?’ but she strongly told me it is hers now,” the mother shared.

“This year Tiffany would have been 33 years old. I know that she’s out there, probably in chains and bondage. But she’s alive,” Coralee said, her tone heavy with optimism.

“When she returns what a Christian party that will be,” added Coralee.

Denise also expects to see her sister again.

“I do believe in miracles, and I am hoping that she and the other young ladies and men who went missing are alive,” said Denise.