Shindlar Cuffy's mother: Girl in photo from Venezuela looks like her

An ailing mother saw a glimmer of hope on Tuesday when someone resembling her missing daughter, Shindlar Cuffy, was spotted in a photo.

The photo shows a girl among a group of people rescued from a human trafficking ring in Venezuela.

Shondel Shallow, 45, who lives at Rosehill Street in Claxton Bay, is hoping local authorities work with the Venezuelan authorities to identify the girl.

“It looked like her.

"Shindlar turned 17 in September. I believe she is alive. I want them (officials) to check it out. It will always be on my mind, not knowing for sure if it was really her,” Shallow said.

She is a single mother of two.

“I always think about my two children. We are trying our best to cope with everything. Wherever she is, she is being held against her will.”

Shindlar was last seen at about 7.30 am on November 26, 2018, when she got into a taxi on the Southern Main Road, Claxton Bay to go to school. At the time Shindlar was a 16-year-old form five student of the Marabella North Secondary School. Relatives later learnt that Shindlar never arrived at school. She disappeared without a trace.

Cuffy has albinism and her hair is blonde.

Speaking at the family’s home, Shindlar's younger sister Shantay Shallow recalled that their father, Joshua Maynard, sent her a photo collage of Shindlar and the rescued girl from Venezuela. She then showed it to her mother.

But unlike her parents, Shantay, 15, was uncertain whether the girl in the Venezuelan photo was her sister.

“I saw a little resemblance, but I am not sure.

"I miss her a lot. I always go on social media to see what information I can get about her. She is no longer on Facebook,” Shantay said.

Relatives speculated that Shindlar may have been lured by a cult after finding a hand-written letter in her bedroom. Part of it said the Lord had sent her on a mission and she had to obey.

They tried contacting a woman identified as Mother Clare who said in a recording that Shindlar had been renamed Rainbow. The woman had a foreign accent and claims to be the head of a religious organisation.

Desperate to hear from her sister, Shantay said she sent messages but has not got any responses. The last message she sent was earlier this year.

“My mother is very sick. She was so sick that for some weeks, she was unable to speak. She is now talking but is still stuttering at times,” the sister said.

“It was very difficult for me alone to care for her, so we have been staying by Granny since last year. We do not know what is causing her to be sick.”

Central Division police said they have no leads in the case.