Woman puzzled by disappearance of best friend and boyfriend

As mystery continues to surround the disappearance of Shanice Wickham and her boyfriend Sherwin Parks, the missing woman’s best friend remains optimistic she will be found safe and sound.

A worried Jadisa Andwele told Barbados TODAY that a week after learning that her friend of 13 years was missing, she is still dialing the 25-year-old’s mobile phone, desperately holding on to hope that she will answer.

“I am not overly emotional right now, because I have to stay calm to think about what we can do. But I am worried because I am not hearing her. I am trying to be hopeful and thinking about the best outcome,” she said.

“I am hoping that this is a situation where she just wants to take a little break. I know sometimes she would go through some stress, and I don’t know if she was dealing with stress lately that I did not know about…. I am just waiting for a phone call from her and waiting to see if she [turns] up at my house, but right now I am in the dark.”

Police issued a missing person notice for Parks, 24, last Wednesday. The following day, one was issued for his girlfriend, Wickham, with whom he lived in Gemswick, St Philip.

“It has been three days since the police found his [Park’s] car on Saturday. They have to find something else,” Andwele said.

Parks was described as five feet, six inches in height, of slim build and with a light brown complexion. Meanwhile, Wickham is about five feet, seven inches tall, has a brown complexion, slim build, and red locs midway down her back.

Andwele said she had no idea if the missing young people are together.

She explained that she was the one who filed Wickham’s missing person report.

Andwele, who posted pictures of her friend on social media along, with an appeal for assistance in finding her, said she last saw Wickham on October 24. The last WhatsApp message she received was on October 30.

“The weekend passed so I messaged her the Monday, which was the 2nd of November, and it had one tick on WhatsApp and I just thought that the WIFI on her phone off. Then the following day I called and it went straight to voicemail twice. I was not really making a big deal of not hearing her at the time because sometimes we go a week without talking to each other,” Andwele recalled.

“Then the Wednesday when I saw the report about him [Parks] missing I was thinking about her and I decided to message or call her about him missing and then I realised I hadn’t heard her. I called again and her phone went to voicemail again.”

The concerned friend said that at that stage, she told her mother about Parks being missing and the fact that she had not heard Wickham.

“So then I also messaged my cousin and we decided to call the police about it, and I told them she is connected to him and I can’t hear her either. I asked the police who reported him missing and they said his mother. Shanice is not close to her family so when I found out she was missing, I wanted to do the police report because I know about the situation [but] I couldn’t do the report because I am not her family,” she said.

“I took it upon myself to do a missing report myself because I couldn’t wait any longer and I don’t know her family members’ numbers or anything. So, after the poster began circulating, an Inspector called me and told me I have permission to do the report. So I went in on Thursday night and gave my statement, but because of the poster I did, her family members have since contacted me.”

Andwele said since filing the report, she has found it hard not to think about what could have happened to her friend.

She said when police told her last Saturday that Parks’ car was found in Speightstown, St Peter, it caused her to ask even more questions.

“The first thing I thought about is ‘why Speightstown?’ because they are located in St Philip. I don’t think he is from Speightstown, so why was the car found there? The police told me that no one was found in the car, but they cannot give me any more information,” Andwele said.

Barbados TODAY’s efforts to reach out to Parks’ family proved futile.

However, one of Wickham’s close relatives said the family is concerned about her whereabouts. The relative said they are making efforts to launch a search party for the missing young couple and will speak to the media soon.

(anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb)