Police on the island of Grand Bahama have intensified the search for Philip ‘Big Mama’ Smith, 80, who has been missing since early last week. He was last seen wearing a red shirt and blue jeans.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Shanta Knowles and other police officials conducted a search in the area of the International Bazaar, the remains of the Princess Hotel and nearby bushes for Smith who is said to suffer from Dementia and Diabetes.
ACP Knowles spoke to reporters during the search saying, “we know that this property has been abandoned for a long time but we also know that there is access to the property and so, we thought that we would come in here to see if those person who are reported missing may have wondered into this property. It’s a big property, vast amount of land and so our team has split up into groups and we have searched every area of this property.”
The Assistant Commissioner also addressed the human trafficking concerns of residents. She said, “over years we know that there are a number of persons reported missing from Grand Bahama and so it is our goal to continue to search to see if we can find Mr. Stubbs and the lady who was reported missing in late December. I say do not create fear in the community and that is what social media is doing. It’s giving everyone an opportunity to voice their opinion but they’re creating fear. If you have information to suggest that there is some form of human trafficking then you need to report the information to us.”
Knowles appealed to family and friends of missing persons to joint the search.
