Families seek next steps after reporting fishermen missing

Las Cuevas fisherman Chad Joseph -

Relatives of 26-year-old Las Cuevas fisherman Chad Joseph are awaiting guidance from police after following the advice of Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander by filing a missing person's report on November 1. Relatives believe Joseph may have been among two TT men killed in a US military strike on an alleged drug-transporting boat on October 12 in international waters.

In a brief phone interview with Newsday on November 3, a family member said they were hoping to hear from Alexander regarding the matter.

Relatives of Joseph and Rishi Samaroo – another TT fisherman – have formally reported them missing.

Joseph's family recently held a memorial for him and claimed people in Venezuela told them he was on board the vessel that got destroyed. Samaroo's relatives, in an interview with another media, said he spoke to them via WhatsApp video call before boarding the vessel.

Newsday tried calling Alexander on November 3, but calls went unanswered. A subsequent WhatsApp message was sent to enquire about the procedure following a missing person's report and to ask if there were any updates. However, there was no response, and the call was not returned.

Newsday also tried contacting Minister of Defence Wayne Sturge the same day, but he too did not respond to calls or messages. A WhatsApp message was sent asking if his ministry was liaising with US authorities to determine if any Trinidad and Tobago nationals were possibly killed in any reported strike.

Additionally, Newsday asked if the bodies that washed ashore along the north-east coast in September, following another US military strike on September 2, had been identified or linked to that incident. Questions were also raised if the remains had been identified.

A female relative of Joseph filed the report at the Maracas Bay Police Station, telling police Joseph was last seen and heard from on the morning of April 25, when he went fishing but never returned.

During the interview, police said the relative appeared agitated and was messaging on her phone. Around 6 pm, the relative told the investigating officer she wanted to consult her attorney before continuing and declined to sign the incomplete statement.

About an hour later, attorney Keron Ramkhalawhan contacted police, saying his client would not be providing any further statements. The woman later returned to the station after 7 pm and was given a citizen’s receipt.

A second missing person's report was filed at the same station on November 2 by relatives of Samaroo, the other fisherman believed to have disappeared under similar circumstances.

Relatives of both men believe they were among several people killed in the US airstrike, which the US said reportedly targeted narcotics traffickers operating in international waters.

Samaroo’s sister Sallycar Korasingh, who filed the missing person's report, appealed to the Prime Minister and the government for assistance in locating her brother. She admitted the family was unsure if Samaroo was aboard the vessel struck but said they were desperate for answers.

She also claimed earlier attempts to file a missing person's report had been unsuccessful, as police allegedly told the family the incident occurred in international waters and was beyond local jurisdiction.

At a post-Cabinet media briefing on October 30, Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Sean Sobers said there was “no evidence to suggest these persons were killed by a strike.”

He said the strike took place outside of TT’s waters and that US authorities had provided the relevant coordinates.