Pain in every language - Dilworth family in disbelief after skeletal remains found

Everton Dilworth is clinging to hope that he will soon wake up from what he calls a terrible nightmare. Since Saturday, he has been gripped by disbelief after police called to say that skeletal remains found on a beach in Portmore, St Catherine, may be those of his missing daughter, Anisa Dilworth.

"Oh Lord, bwoy it's like my mind went blank when I heard the news. It's like my mind freeze and I kept telling myself after that it just wasn't possible," Dilworth told THE STAR yesterday.

Anisa, a 20-year-old pharmaceutical student at the University of Technology, Jamaica, was reported missing on May 7. She had been living in a self-contained apartment on Gordon Town Road, St Andrew, not far from campus, and was last seen the day before.

On Saturday, detectives from the St Catherine South Division discovered skeletal remains along a beach and said that, while formal identification is pending forensic analysis, evidence found at the scene strongly suggests the remains could belong to Anisa.

Dilworth has seen an image of the remains.

"When I saw the image of the remains I keep telling myself it wasn't her and was wondering if she would decay so fast, but honestly, I don't know the environment that the body was in, and if there is wildlife around. It is like I am afraid to ask some questions. The police said they found some stuff at the location where the body was found that could be hers so I am going Kingston tomorrow (today)," he said.

Still holding on to a thread of hope, Dilworth said his family is praying earnestly that the remains are not Anisa's.

"Myself and everyone in the family is just hoping the remains are not hers. We are a tight-knitted family and we just really going through a difficult time. A lot of my family is still in disbelief. I still expect my daughter to call my phone or I see a post somewhere that it is a dream. My son is taking it really hard. He is not talking or eating, and when he is not eating something is really wrong," he said.

Since Anisa's disappearance, Dilworth said he has barely slept. The stillness in their home has been haunting.

"I have to be forcing myself to stay strong to filter the information to see what makes sense or not. I have been trying to figure out the last few hours of my daughter's life and what really happened. It is really a lot and it's hard dealing with it. I am left with an emptiness because the house is not the same without her. She have a little house name where we call her 'ants nest' because if you don't trouble her you won't see her other side. She is really a quiet girl but she is the joy of the house," he said.

"It is so sad because she is at the age now where we reason a lot. Oh God, she have all of my password dem and I don't know how I am going to remember them. She has all of my information. Mi wish mi coulda just see her, God know," Dilworth added.

Meanwhile, a taxi operator was taken into police custody last Saturday. The police said that the investigation into the circumstances surrounding Dilworth's disappearance and the discovery of the remains is ongoing, and that detectives are currently pursuing several leads.