Quick action by councillor leads to rescue of missing Clarendon girl, man arrested

A man has been taken into custody after being intercepted today with a six-year-old girl who was reportedly taken from her school in May Pen, Clarendon.

The reported abduction was foiled some hours later when Clarendon councillor Scean Barnswell intercepted the alleged suspect along the Bustamante Highway in the parish with the child.

The child, a student of St Thomas More Preparatory School, had reportedly gone missing after a man reportedly walked off the school compound with her.

An alarm was raised when her parent arrived later to pick her up and discovered that her belongings were still at the school, but the young child was nowhere to be found.

A high alert for the missing child was issued by the police.

As news of her disappearance spread rapidly across Clarendon, residents went into high-alert mode—watching roadways, sharing information, and joining the desperate effort to locate the missing child.

It was during this tense period that Barnswell, who represents the Hayes division, was travelling with his wife and actively discussing circulating reports of the missing child when fate intervened.

“By the time I reached Glenmuir Road and turned onto the Bustamante Highway, I saw the man walking with the child in a westerly direction. I was travelling easterly,” Barnswell told The Gleaner.

“I said to my wife, ‘Nuh the child that in the St Thomas More Prep uniform?’ She asked if I was sure, and I told her, ‘Yes, and even if it wasn’t her, him haffi tell me where the child come from.’”

Acting without hesitation, the councillor said he turned his vehicle around, blocked the man’s path, exited his vehicle, and confronted him.

He said the suspect reportedly attempted to flee but was overpowered, and the child was rescued.

Barnswell said he alerted the police, who arrived shortly after, and both the man and the child were turned over to the lawmen.

According to the councillor, the man claimed that he was sent to the school for the child by his cousin.

The man remains in police custody as investigations continue into the disturbing incident.

The incident has also sparked discussions about the safety and security of children in schools.

Questions are being raised about the measures in place to protect students and the steps that can be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.

- Olivia Brown

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