MP Forde’s mother missing

The elderly mother of Christ Church West Central MP and Minister of Environment and National Beautification Adrian Medic Forde remained missing Wednesday evening despite an intense search for more than six hours earlier in the day.

Jean Agatha Forde, 78, of Cane Garden, St Andrew, was reported missing by her son, Ronald Jordan, of the same address on Tuesday.

She was last seen about 10:30 a.m. that day walking along a track in a northerly direction towards Baxters, St Andrew. At the time, she was wearing a black skirt, a blue shirt and a denim hat. She is five feet, five inches tall and has a brown complexion.

From as early as seven o’clock this morning, police, personnel from the Barbados Defence Force, family, friends and constituents from St Andrew and Christ Church West Central began an intense search in the community and surrounding areas for the elderly lady described as pleasant and friendly.

Drones were also utilised in the effort to locate Forde, who is known to go through the tracks and gullies in the immediate areas of Cane Garden and Fruitful Hill to look for dry coconuts and cane lilies.

A visibly worried Minister Forde, who was accompanied by Barbados Labour Party colleague, Christ Church West MP Dr William Duguid, was unable to speak.

But Dr Duguid told Barbados TODAY: “We have mobilised as much of the resources as we could, as many people as we could, to get out and search many of the areas that she normally traverses to go out and find coconuts and so forth.

“We just want to find her and find her safe and get her back into the bosom of her children.”

He appealed to Christ Church West Central constituents to exercise their patience as their MP has been forced to suspend campaigning.

“He obviously has had to take care of this urgent and pressing matter, so give him a chance and as long as this matter is settled he will be back out on the campaign trail. I ask everybody to please be patient and understand that is a difficult time for him,” Duguid said.

Police are asking anyone who may know the whereabouts of Jean Forde to contact the District F/Belleplaine Police Station at telephone number 433-1540, Police Emergency at 211, Crime Stoppers at
429-8787, or the nearest police station. (SD)