News

Joey Bartlett

An Hour Ago

Thomas Vasquez –

Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Sean Sobers has renewed hope for the family of 21-year-old Thomas Vasquez, missing for nearly seven months, assuring them the government has not forgotten one of its own.

Speaking to Newsday after a media briefing on October 26, Sobers said he intended to put the Vasquez family in contact with regional security services and the Caricom Caribbean Community Implementation Agency for Crime and Security.

He admitted he had not yet spoken with the family owing to a lack of updates on the investigation.

“I did not want to contact them without having information to share.

“There isn’t much at this time,” Sobers said. “As soon as I speak with the relevant people, officials will contact the family and put the parties in touch.”

Vasquez disappeared on April 15, just one day after returning to Antigua to resume work at a cannabis farm.

He had first travelled to Antigua in 2024, at the invitation of a fellow Trinidadian Rastafarian priest, and reportedly spent weeks working at what was believed to be a legal cannabis operation.

On his first day in office, May 6, Sobers said he “immediately instructed staff” to reach out to Antiguan officials for a status update on the investigation.

Vasquez’s mother, Candy Jageshar, described the ongoing agony of not knowing her son’s fate. Speaking to Newsday by phone on October 30, she recounted a mass held on October 15, the six-month anniversary of his disappearance, at La Sevia Church in Diego Martin, where prayers were offered for her son’s soul.

“It was not a traditional mass: we could not hold one because we don’t know what has happened to him. We sent a prayer to heaven for him to just find peace,” she said.

Asked if the mass gave her family peace, she added in a broken voice, “It was very heartbreaking. Really, really heartbreaking.”

Despite the uncertainty, Jageshar said she hoped Sobers would reach out to her directly.

“I would appreciate a call very much. At least I would know that something is being done,” she said.

The minister’s efforts to engage regional security officials have offered her a glimmer of hope while she pays close attention to news in Antigua.

“I’ve been following the news there, and I heard there will be an implementation of a cold-case unit. That gives me a little hope that maybe Tommy’s case may come up,” she said.

“On September 8, Antigua’s acting police commissioner Everton Jeffers announced the establishment of a cold-case unit as part of the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda’s modernisation efforts.

The specialised unit will revisit unsolved murders, missing persons cases, and other criminal matters.

Despite the continuous emotional turmoil, Jageshar continues to lean on her faith for strength as she awaits news.

As for the investigation, it has included several searches.

On May 7, police searched a house in Hodges Bay, Antigua: a woman who reportedly spoke with Vasquez on April 14 was taken into custody and released the same day. Also arrested was a senior male farm employee.

The previous week, police conducted three searches at English Harbour Marina, known locally as Pharm Dock, for a boat allegedly linked to Vasquez. Though it was not found.

Reports say after arriving on April 14, Vasquez spent the evening drinking with a co-worker, then stayed at a couple’s home before heading to the farm the next morning. By the end of that day, he was missing.

Questions about the farm’s legitimacy emerged as investigators probed Vasquez.

The disappearance also sparked tensions between governments. Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne criticised Sobers on social media while responding to a Newsday piece titled ‘Anguish in Antigua.’”

Browne wrote on Facebook: “Mr Sobers, with more than 500 individuals missing in TT annually, you have no moral authority to condemn our country. Instead, you should focus on the exponential increase in crime in your home country.”

However, Sobers had not condemned Antigua and Barbuda.

Browne added there was no evidence Vasquez went missing in Antigua, saying, “Vasquez had a history of entering the country by plane and leaving clandestinely by boat, reportedly trafficking marijuana from an illegal farm.

“While we sympathise with his grieving mother and hope he is found alive, it is important the facts be presented.”

Antigua has a documented history of mysterious disappearances, which have drawn regional and international media attention.

The BBC highlighted these concerns in a March 28 investigative report titled Mysterious Disappearances Spook Residents of Caribbean Island.

Newsday tried calling Browne on October 30 but did not reach an answer.