Missing Blanchisseuse man’s mother: Every missing person brings horrible memories

Whenever a person is reported missing, it stirs up more painful memories for the mother of missing 21-year-old Oreon Gomez from Blanchisseuse.

“It is so strange. You do not know how it feels until it hits home or is close to home. I am still hurting and praying for a miracle. I want answers. God knows the pain I endure daily,” Sharon Chapman told Newsday.

Gomez, of Morne La Croix, was last seen on August 26 last year, when he left home to go to Arima on a date with a woman he had met via social media. Gomez works as a tour guide for hikers.

Chapman also sympathised with the relatives of missing part-time TT RideShare driver Shakem Charles, 32, of Indian Walk in Moruga.

She added, “I know how his mother and other relatives are feeling right now. It is so painful to go through this.”

Chapman said her son turned 22 last November, and since his disappearance, she has had multiple dreams of him.

Despite “speaking” to him in her dreams, she would prefer to speak with him in real life.

Sometimes she breaks down and cries, just thinking about him.

“I am trying to keep my head above water.

"He is my only child. I am hoping for the best. As a parent, you would hope and pray for the best, despite the length of time (since) he was last seen,” Chapman said on the

“I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would have had to go through something like this. This is something we see in movies. "God is a miracle-working God. I try to stay positive because we never know. I know sometimes we have to face reality.”

She refuses to think of Gomez as dead.

Arima police are investigating, and to date, no one has been arrested or charged.

Meanwhile, in Moruga, the Charles’ family offered a $15,000 reward for any information about his whereabouts. So far, no one has come forward with information.

The father of two, who also works with a company that instals audio equipment in Port of Spain, was last seen on July 9.

Three weeks ago, he bought a Toyota Yaris Cross. Days before he went missing, he registered as a RideShare driver and started to use it to earn extra money to pay his instalments.

The last location from his phone showed the device in Penal at 7.38 pm on July 9. It is unclear if he was also in Penal.

When Charles did not return home and all calls and messages went unanswered, relatives became worried about his safety.

Theybegan searching for him with the help of police and the NGO Hunters Search and Rescue Team.

On July 10, the Eastern Division police found his car locked and abandoned in the Valencia area.

His mother, Margaret Charles, last spoke to him by phone around 2 pm on July 9. He told her he was leaving Port of Spain to head south.

A few hours later, around 8.30 pm, a $500 withdrawal was made from his bank account via an ATM at Rushworth Street in San Fernando.

His mother said the family is patiently waiting for “good news.”

“We are keeping him in our prayers. We are not stopping. We are looking for a breakthrough – something, anything. God is good.”

Like relatives, many social media users have been pleading for his safe return.

“People, let us give this family some peace of mind. Let him come home to his family,” a Facebook user said.

Another said, “Father God, please intervene in this situation. Let him return home safely to his loved ones in Jesus’s name.”

Newsday learnt that investigators were reviewing CCTV footage

Princes Town police, as well as the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, are investigating.