NEARLY two months have gone by since Shelline Gordon last saw her niece, 31-year-old Stacy Ann Newland.

Gordon said she reported her as missing to the police on April 23, after searching for her for several weeks following her disappearance after a visit on March 31. She said the family, gripped by uncertainty and anguish, are confused and in need of answers amid unverified reports that Newland was raped and killed.

“I was at my house one Monday and I get a call [from a relative] that Stacy was dead out by Half-Way-Tree [in St Andrew], and that they cut her neck and raped her. I got ready and me and my daughter went out there with a family friend. When I went out there, they said that they don’t get any record of any female dying out there,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

She said she also made checks at the Half-Way-Tree Police Station and was told that there was no report of a woman being killed in the area.

According to the missing person police report, Newland was last seen in her community of Riverton City in St Andrew at about 7:00 pm on March 31. Her mode of dress at the time is not known. Newland is said to be of dark complexion, medium build and five-foot tall.

According to Gordon, her niece had visited her everyday from March 23 to March 30, before she received news that she was raped and killed. She said, with no confirmation that her niece is dead, her family started searching for her and, after several weeks, reported the 31-year old missing.

“Right now, we are worried because we don’t know where she is or anything,” said Gordon.

“Some people say that they see her, but we can’t get a picture or anything to say, ‘Okay, she’s alive’, and some say she was raped and killed. We just don’t know for sure,” she said.

Gordon shared that her niece is a mother to five children, one of whom she gave birth to last year July. She said relatives have stepped in to help take care of the children.

According to the aunt, Newland has never been missing before and this is the first time she has gone weeks without contacting any member of her family.

“She always come to my house. I would cook dinner and give to her. The last time I cooked and gave it to her she said, ‘Aunty, it nice. You don’t have any more?’ and I said, ‘No, I don’t have any more’, ” she recounted, chuckling at the memory.

“It just rest on my heart. Even at night-time when I go to sleep I see her coming in front of me. My son will be at work and he said he will see somebody like her, but by the time he goes up to the person it’s not her. The way how we feel right now, we sit down right here so and we wouldn’t mind that she came through the door,” Gordon told the Sunday Observer.

She shared that in her last conversation with Newland, she told her that her aunt who resides overseas would be visiting to Jamaica. She said her niece was excited and looking forward to her visit.

“Normally, she would be around my sister when she comes, but she hasn’t come to see her. My sister carried clothes for her, she have it at my house still, waiting for her,” Gordon said.

After filing the initial missing person report, Gordon said she went back to the Half-Way-Tree Police Station a few days later, but they had no updates.

According to information obtained from the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) communications network, investigators assigned to the case still have not uncovered any information that has led them to Newland, and cannot confirm whether she has died or not. The police told the Sunday Observer that Newland is still listed as a missing.

Despite unconfirmed reports that her niece might be dead, Gordon said she still clings to hope for her safe return.

“I have hope that she’s still alive, but because I haven’t seen her I’m not too sure. I just want answers if she is alive or if she is not,” she said.

“She is a girl who doesn’t really give trouble or anything, only when her head chip she will curse, but when she takes her medication she comes around alright. I’m asking Jamaicans if they can help out. If they see her, make her come back home to her family because her family is hurting,” said Gordon.