FOR the first time in 37 years, Winston Watson Jr will not be able to celebrate Father’s Day with his dad, not because his father passed but because the elder Watson has been missing for more than a month, with efforts to locate him yielding no results.

Reports from the Ramble police in Hanover are that Winston Watson Sr, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2018, went missing on May 19. The 78-year-old was reportedly last seen at his home in Lethe District in the parish at about 5 pm, wearing a black muscle T-shirt, black shorts, and white Crocs. He is of dark complexion, slim build, and six feet two inches in height.

Watson Jr said his father was tending to his farm near his home — something he practised regularly despite his dementia — when he went missing. He said his stepmother Vernica Watson, upon not seeing her husband return from the fields at his usual time, went in search of him.

“Normally, she would call and say that she couldn’t find him because he would often wander, but it was the first time that she had called me so late… He used to do small-scale farming [when I was] growing up — whether it’s rearing animals or planting crops — he would actually just walk around the property, most times, and he would be back in the house before nightfall, so at that time, which was about seven o’clock when she called me, I knew that something was wrong,” the younger Watson told the Jamaica Observer.

A police officer, Watson Jr said he had just got to work when he got the call. After explaining the situation to his supervisor, he left the office in St James and drove to Hanover where he immediately went in search of his father. However, his search was also unsuccessful. He and his stepmother then filed a missing person report.

Watson Jr said family members, friends, and residents of Lethe District later joined the search, with relatives living overseas flying in to help find the missing 78-year-old. However, their efforts have also been futile.

“My brother and I and my friends searched the community, spoke with people, put up posters in the community as well, and people said that they didn’t see him. The following day, we got another call that someone had spotted him in Paradise, that’s between Savanna-la-Mar and the Ferris Cross in Westmorland. We went down there, me and my brother, and we searched the area as well. We put up posters as well and, again, spoke with persons on the streets, and persons said they didn’t see him,” he recounted.

“The following day, we went back into the area with police officers and we did a canvass all the way from the Beirut District to Little London, just walking and speaking with people. Some persons in that area said that they saw a person who fit his description as well the day before, so we spent about a week in Westmorland between Little London and Negril doing searches and canvassing the area,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Watson Jr said the last few days have been an emotional roller coaster for him and his family, each day building frustration that despite their best efforts they have not been able to locate his father. He said his family even offered a reward of $500,000 to encourage people to come forward with any information that could lead to them locating Watson Sr, but they have not had any luck on that front.

Winston Watson Sr has been missing since May 19, 2026. 

“I just wish I could reunite with my dad. My days start with that wish, and they end with that wish,” he said.

“I’ve been thinking about it ever since this happened, and to be honest, I thought that I would have found him within the first week — especially since the amount of work that was put in with my colleagues — but as Father’s Day draws closer it’s beginning to feel a lot more difficult. I have two younger sons, and [last week Wednesday] when I picked up the smaller one he was saying to me, ‘Dad, have you found grandpa?’ He is just three years old, and when he said that to me it dawned on me that it’s just gonna be very hard not to have him for Father’s Day,” said Watson Jr.

“This would be the first time that I wouldn’t be able to say, ‘Happy Father’s Day’ or to be at peace with myself and celebrate it. I still have to show up for my sons because [last] Friday both of them had an event at their school and I was invited to two separate schools. And the funny thing is, my younger son, his teacher asked me if I wanted to say something for Father’s Day and I said I couldn’t manage that responsibility at this [juncture] seeing that I am still searching for my father.

“Even though I know that I’m representing my son, I don’t think that I have the mentality or the strength to go up in front of other fathers and say anything positive at this point. I’m just trying to be there for them but the general excitement of it, it’s just not there…I’m just gonna do the usual rounds. I turned up for them at school and I put on a brave face, just for them. I know [Father’s Day] is something that they look forward to each year, especially the older one, so it’s not something that I’m not planning to disappoint him with, so I’m just going to do what I can,” he said.

Watson Jr said his family remains puzzled by his father’s disappearance, given that he lives in a small community where everyone knows he has dementia and is prone to wandering.

“The community is so small where we live that if he leaves the house, somebody has to see him…Even at that time [that he went missing], there were persons that were still just walking around, just conversing around the square. In our journey in communities, a lot of people know him because for years he was in the tourism industry doing a tour operation. Before that, he was a truck driver; a lot of people would have known him from other communities,” he shared.

“Even when I went to Westmoreland to put up the posters, most people said they knew him because he was always in those areas when I was growing up, so it’s just a mystery to see how can he be missing for a month and nobody has seen him. How is it possible?” he questioned.

Watson Jr said as the time stretches on it has caused him to question whether the elder Watson is still alive, but he remains hopeful that he is just lost and wandering the streets of Jamaica.

Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Winston Watson Sr is being asked to contact the Ramble police at 876-822-5211, the police emergency number, 119, or the nearest police station.