The police have described a man who abducted his niece in Warner on Tuesday as a “suspected lunatic”. The kidnapper, Kian Alexander, stormed the house of his uncle, identified as Laurent Joseph Bruno, and inflicted fatal matchete cuts on him before taking off with 12-year-old Kernisha Etienne, Bruno’s adopted daughter.
ASP Leana Edwards said Alexander attempted to murder Bruno around 11:30 pm on Tuesday before disappearing into the woods with Kernisha. The police boss said Bruno was rushed to the Dominica China Friendship Hospital (DCFH) where he is currently undergoing medical treatment.
The motive for the attack and abduction has not been established, but police authorities have appealed to residents of Warner and Belles as well as surrounding communities to mount intense search to retrieve Kernisha and arrest Alexander. Hundreds of people combed the woods and hills as well as riverine areas for the kidnapper, but he is yet to be apprehended.
The outcry that attended the abduction of the 12-year-old has attracted the attention of the government. The Minister for National Security, Rayburn Blackmoore, on Thursday said the French government in Martinique has provided a search helicopter and a tracking dog to aid the search for Kernisha.
“I want to on behalf of the government express our gratitude to the government of France because through the instrumentality of the department of Martinique we were able to get a helicopter yesterday at 4:25 p.m. to help with the search,” Blackmoore said on DBS Radio. “I want to give the public the assurance that this search is non-stop until this young child is found and brought back to her natural habitat, namely her home.”
PM Roosevelt Skerrit who is away in the United States to attend regional summit expressed sadness over the kidnapping of Kernisha and ordered law enforcement agencies to leave no stones unturned in finding her. He said all required state resources should be channeled towards the search and rescue efforts.
“Even if I am out of the country I am following events on an ongoing basis,” Skerrit said. “For me this issue is an even greater priority than the summit of the Americas and so my attention has been switched to our efforts at the search and rescue of Kernisha Etienne. I’m very hopeful and I pray to God that she will be found alive.”
The Minister for Youths and Gender Affairs, Dr. Adis King, condemned the developed as a heinous crime. “No child should experience such a heinous crime,” she said. “This is a cowardly and despicable act and the horrific abuse of basic human dignity and human rights.”
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