[UPDATED] MOM: I NEED CLOSURE

KATHLEEN Darlington is experiencing a range of emotions from sorrow, to doubt, to worry and even hope.

Darlington, mother of missing Kesha Darlington, 20, yesterday said she needs closure, one way or the other, after the badly burnt body of a woman was found on Sunday in Lopinot. Is this body her daughter? Darlington said she is not sure.

The mother, who said she still considers her daughter to be missing, said she must now wait on DNA tests to ascertain if this burnt body is her daughter or not. “In the meantime, I still live in hope that this body is not Kesha and she is out there somewhere,” Darlington said.

Kesha, 20, mother of an 18-month-old boy, was last seen liming at Jenny’s bar which is two houses away from her Longden Street, Arima at 11 am on October 9. Darlington said she only filed a missing person report at the Arouca Police Station on Monday gone, as her daughter was accustomed staying out for several days at a time with friends.

When Newsday visited the family home yesterday, Darlington said information on social media was misleading and she sought to clear the air. “Kesha was liming at Jenny’s bar. Kesha was a limer. She was wearing a blue top with pink piping which a friend gave her, a pair of black slippers with a small silver logo, and a jeans-type mini skirt. She was wearing a wig and she always liked her false eyelashes.

Kesha was real tiny, only four feet tall. Anybody could fling her anywhere.

“People said they saw her talking to someone in a black car and then she left. She came home and put her phone to charge and then went further down the road where she met whoever it was in the black car. I didn’t see her because I was in my room. We will have to get the CCTV video to see if she got into the car,” Darlington said.

She added that although her daughter would regularly stay out, she would always let her know and she would never leave without her phone or wallet. “She would call and say, ‘mammy, you could lock up, I wouldn’t be home tonight.’ And when she is coming home she would call and say she’s in a taxi on her way. She had her ways but she was not a bad person. She might get drunk and curse you out now, and tomorrow she talking to you normal.” Darlington said it was last Sunday that one of Kesha’s friends came with an employee of Armstrong’s Funeral Home asking for Kesha’s photo. The employee said they had removed a burnt body which was found in Lopinot and it looked like Kesha.

She said when she went to view the evidence at the Cumuto army base she was shown photos of a pair of slippers and cloth that was blue and not burnt. She said she was told the body found, was missing its limbs and was lying face down.

When she went to the Forensic Science Centre, St James on Tuesday, officers did not allow Darlington to see the body. Darlington said she was only able to see the toes on one foot through a viewing glass and admitted she could not remember what colour nail polish Kesha was wearing.

“Kesha’s aunt and I went down to view the body, but they said that the body was badly burnt and that we would be traumatised and would start to bawl and they had no room to accommodate that. An officer told us to get two DNA samples because one had to go to Barbados to confirm if it was really Kesha.”

Asked if she was still holding out hope that the body is not Kesha’s, despite the circumstantial evidence shown by police, Darlington said she felt as though she is in limbo. She said she would sit in Kesha’s room and imagine hearing her laughter. Darlington said she prays that whatever the outcome of the DNA tests, she and her family will have the strength to cope.

This story was originally published with the title "Burned body not confirmed as missing Arima woman" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

Kathleen Darlington, mother of the missing Kesha Darlington, says she wants closure after the body of a woman was found burned in the Lopinot area on Sunday. She said she had to wait for DNA tests for confirmation.

Kesha was last seen alive liming at Jenny's Bar, two houses away from her home at Longden Street, Arima, on October 9, at around 11 am. Darlington said she only filed a missing person report at the Arouca Police Station on October 14, as her daughter was accustomed to staying out for several days at a time with friends,

She said one of Kesha's friends came to her on Sunday with an employee of Armstrong's Funeral Home asking for a photo of her daughter. She said the employee said they had removed a burnt body from Lopinot and it looked like Kesha.

Darlington said when she went to view the evidence at the Cumuto army base, she was shown photos of slippers and a piece of a blue T-shirt that was not burnt. Kesha was last seen wearing a blue T-shirt with pink piping, black slippers with a silver logo and a jeans skirt. However, Darlington said staff from the Forensic Science Centre, St James, did not allow her to see the body.

She was only able to see the toes on one foot through the viewing glass at the centre, and admitted she could not remember what colour nail polish Kesha was wearing.

Kesha left behind an 18-month-old son, of whom Darlington has legal custody.