Almost eight weeks have slipped by since 31-year-old Stacy Ann Newland walked out of Riverton City, St Andrew, and seemingly off the face of the earth. In the silence that followed her disappearance, her relatives have been left to wrestle with rumours of foul play and the ache of not knowing.
Newland, a petite mother of five described as soft-spoken but sociable, was reportedly last seen about 7:00 pm on Sunday, 31 March. She had spent the previous week visiting her aunt, Shelline Gordon, every day. When those visits abruptly stopped, Gordon grew uneasy. Days later she received a telephone call claiming Newland had been raped and murdered near Half-Way-Tree. She rushed to the area—and to the Half-Way-Tree Police Station—but officers confirmed no such incident had been recorded.
With no sign of Newland and no confirmation of the grisly tale, the family filed a missing-person report on 23 April. Investigators from the Jamaica Constabulary Force say they have yet to uncover evidence pointing to Newland’s whereabouts or her fate.
“Our minds swing between hope and dread,” Gordon told reporters. “Some people insist they spotted her alive; others swear she’s dead. Until we see her, we can’t believe anything.”
The uncertainty has been hardest on Newland’s children, the youngest of whom was born last July. Relatives have stepped in to provide care, but Gordon says the household feels incomplete. “Every night I close my eyes and picture her walking through the door asking for dinner,” she said, her voice breaking.
Family members describe Newland as five feet tall, dark-complexioned and of medium build. At the time she vanished, her clothing was unknown. This is the first time she has gone any length of time without contacting loved ones.
Police continue to urge anyone with information—no matter how small—to come forward. Tips can be shared with the Half-Way-Tree Police Station at 876-926-8184, the nearest police station, or Crime Stop at 311. Those calls may yet deliver the breakthrough a worried family so desperately needs.
