Hunters Search and Rescue counts wins, losses for 2023 - Rambharat: Team will go regional in 2024

It has been a year of highs and lows for the Hunters Search and Rescue Team, with its members participating in 482 searches for missing people from January to November.

Its latest case, 13-year-old Jaydon Mack of Laventille, was a positive one as the boy was eventually found alive by his mother after ten days of searching along with family members and the community.

Of those under age 18, the group helped search for six boys, five of whom were found and 322 girls, of which 24 were not found.

In the 18-60 age bracket, 57 of 73 missing men were found, and 40 of 48 missing women were found. Sixteen out of 23 men and eight out of ten women over 60 years old were also found.

Vallence Rambharat, captain of the Hunters Search and Rescue Team, said the year produced some successes, some disappointments and some bitter-sweet moments for the team members.

He said some major cases in which they were involved were that of Martin Thomas in May, Jenysa Murray, five, in July and nine-year-old Omari Providence in August.

The team learned Thomas, 53, of Manzanilla, went to harvest baby parrots in the Nariva swamp about a week before he was found. The team used drones to fly over the area and identified a tree surrounded by a flock of corbeaux. After wading through waist-high water, they found Thomas’s body hanging from his ankle by a vine.

“Parrots have their nests in tall trees. He most likely would have slipped and fallen while climbing, and his ankle got caught in a vine so he died suspended upside down.

“That was challenging because we were searching through chest-height water, and if we had not gone in on that case, I don’t think his body would have ever been found. So it was good to get closure for that family.”

A few months later, the team found Murray, who fell into a river behind her relatives’ home in Erin. She was missing for 15 hours.

“We worked through the night in the river and on the riverbank and at 7.50 am the next day, we were able to find her alive on the river bank. That was a highlight of the year for us.”

There was also some disappointment for the team as they were unable to find Providence from Morvant, who went missing while swimming in Mission Beach, Toco.

“Up to today, nobody has found him. We spent five days camping out in Toco trying to assist the family to locate his body but we were unsuccessful.

“That hurt even more as we pay particular attention to children, and we were unable to bring closure to his family. He is now technically lost at sea.”

Rambharat wants to continue expanding the team and its reach. He said members increased from 23 to 33 this year and he wanted to add six or seven more to the team next year.

He said the group had a management team to acquire whatever was needed to strengthen the team, including resources such as sonar equipment to examine rivers and ponds and improved navigational and communication equipment.

He said the current range of their two-way radios, which they needed for areas without cell or data coverage, was insufficient. Also, he said the group used Starlink GPS provider, which was one of the best with expensive yearly fees. So he would be extremely happy if someone would help them keep the service.

“As the leader, I have to know the position of my member at all times when we are on searches. Remember, we go to rescue people who get lost. We don’t want to get lost in doing that.”

Rambharat added that the group had taken note of two regional cases – a missing girl in Montserrat and a boy in St Lucia – and was thinking of expanding outside of TT.

“We want to begin to take the team regionally in 2024 to assist those families in the Caribbean who may require our assistance.”

He said the team had done well in TT and, since there was a need for their service in other Caribbean islands, they would like to spread their wings.