No sight of missing Marabella teen

MARABELLA police and officers of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, investigating the whereabouts of 16-year-old Shindlar Cuffy, are denying reports that she was seen in Chaguanas recently. They say they still have no clues which could lead them to finding the form five Marabella East Secondary School student who lives at Rosehill Street, Claxton Bay.

Her grandmother, Ingrid Shallow, said since she (Cuffy) left home on November 26 last year, they have not set eyes on her. “Each day that dawns we pray that she will return home where she belongs,” Shallow said.

Her family said they wanted to send a message to her, through Newsday, that they are hoping that she would return home soon. “If she gets the paper and reads this story, we want her to know we are praying hard for her,” Shallow said. Cuffy’s mother Shondel Shallow is optimistic that her daughter will return home soon. “I know she wants to come home.”

She recalled finding a folder, with a black cross drawn on the cover, in her daughter’s room. That folder was handed to the police. The words “If you get taken you need to read it,” was written on one part. On another are the words, “Read only after rapture.”

“Rapture” is a term used by some Christian sects to describe an end time when all believers will be bodily lifted into the heavens. Shallow is of the opinion that her daughter is a victim of a cult operating in the country.

Cuffy’s only sister Shantay Shallow, 14, who is also a student of Marabella East Secondary was not willing to speak about her sister. Shallow said her daughter’s disappearance has impacted on her health. She had a seizure and collapsed.

Last November, Cuffy went missing when she left for school. A white AD wagon taxi stopped with two other passengers, and Cuffy got in. Since then, her friends and family have not seen her.