SEARCH WIDENS: Frank and South Sounds examined For Kerran clues
Two new locations – miles away from where Kerran Baker’s car was found – are being searched by police looking for the missing 25 year old.
Detectives leading the hunt to find the nursing assistant have revealed they are scouring areas in both Frank and South Sounds.
They also say they are combing through hours of CCTV footage in a desperate bid to find clues to locate Kerran.
Yesterday, detectives revealed her distraught parents – who came to Cayman from Portmore in Jamaica – are remaining on Island hoping to quickly hear what has happened to their daughter.
Detective Superintendent Marlon Bodden also said they are working closely with Canadian Blackberry Company Research In Motion (RIM) as Kerran was a very active user.
Kerran has not been seen since July 30th. Her white Honda Civic was found abandoned in Pedro’s Castle.
Police said yesterday they were searching both the Frank Sound and South Sound areas in the hunt for Kerran Baker, while her family “is holding up all right”, according to police.
The investigation, however, “is picking up” as police interview more people, speak to their Jamaican counterparts and study increasing amounts of CCTV footage.
“We continue searching in some areas, based on probabilities,” said Detective Superintendent Marlon Bodden. “We have searched in the Frank Sound area and will search in South Sound, based on certain information we have been receiving.”
The Frank Sound search, he said, was “not based on specific intelligence, but on our best guesses about where somebody might be.
“We will very much keep that up, and depending on the intelligence we get, will be more specific,” he said.
Ms Baker’s family — mother Sandra, father Wilmot, sister Toney-Ann and Aunt “Patsy” – remained on island, living in the Martin Road of George Town area with relatives.
“They are hanging in there,” Mr Bodden said, “and usually feel a little better after speaking to us, but they sometimes have trouble sleeping.” They continued to
await developments. Last weekend’s searches of the Pedro Castle and Beach Bay areas, had been conducted because “that was what the family wanted.” Other probes had, however, extended to West Bay, Savannah, Lower Valley and the ocean out to East End.
“We still have not gotten any closer to finding out what happened to Kerran,” Mr Bodden said. “We just don’t know, but we think there are a lot of individuals out there who do know what happened, but haven’t spoken to the police.”
He said “dialogue has been opened with people in Jamacia who may have contacted Kerran after 7pm, on the night she vanished, based on BBM use, an increasing focus for investigators.”
“She was a very active BBM user,” said Chief Superintendent John Jones, but lamented that police were hampered by technical limitations.
“The Canadian company, Rim, that runs the encrypted messaging system, has been very cooperative when requests have been made, but there are limitations on what we can do.
“It’s a bit of both a technical and a privacy issue, but it wouldn’t be wise to go into what we can and cannot do.”
Ms Baker, 25, a George Town nurses assistant, went missing on the evening of 30 July. Friends reported her missing the following day, but despite searches and the discovery of her car, car keys and sets of documents, police have been unable to trace her whereabouts after early Saturday evening. Her telephone remains missing.
“We continue to press on,” Mr Bodden said. “We are very focused and going through a lot of hours of CCTV. We have dedicated officers sitting down with the footage. It ls all they are doing.”