Every passing day brings with it the possibility of tragic news of his death. We try not to let it settle in that my brother Simeon Antoine, better known as Sempre, has disappeared into the abyss of cold case files. Every news item of an unknown body found, sends shivers down the backs of my family. Will this be the end of our waiting, our searching, and our crying? Will we finally get closure? Is this news of his death or is he still alive somewhere? The ticking clock clacks loudly in our ears day in and day out. It is not knowing that painfully yanks on our hearts all the time.
Who would have known that Wednesday, March 27, would be the last day that I would see my brother? He was distressed about a domestic issue with his pregnant girlfriend and decided that he would head to see her in Choiseul where she lives. But that was the last any of us heard of or about him, until murmurs began to circulate throughout the communities of him being dead following an altercation. We tried to make contact with him immediately but that was futile.
We went to the police who did not seem to want to help. After we spent over an hour giving a statement to the investigating officer, it was later discovered that all the information had mysteriously gone missing. We don’t know that they went investigating either, since they never had any updates to give. They also refused to help by giving us a letter to take to the electoral department so we could get a photo of him to bring to the media. Personally, I made contact with the Choiseul and Vieux Fort police where it was rumoured that my brother might have died. However, nothing was on record about him, except that someone reported he might have been in a fight, but the police told us there was not enough evidence about that. The saying, “Where there is smoke, there is fire,” kept ringing in our ears and we continued to search.
We took our story to newsrooms and social media but that also proved to be no help. The only result we got was heart-wrenching phone calls of people telling us that he is dead but with no proof. Even people who we thought would have given us reliable information predicted my brother’s death with no justification. Our hope was awakened when we received a call from someone with a Vincentian accent telling us that my brother was alive. However, after a few days of talking and begging to talk to our brother, to no avail, we concluded that this was most likely a hoax.
After four months of getting nothing concrete and no follow-up from the police, we, the family of Simeon, long for closure. We are asking that if anyone knows anything about his whereabouts or what happened to him, please come forward. It has been an upsetting experience for all of us and we would appreciate any help offered.
By Cecilia Jean Charles
Editor’s Note: The STAR was unable to contact the police press office to provide updates about Simeon Antoine’s case at press time.
