Hunters
Kristy.ramnarine@cnc3.co.tt
Raquel Andrews-Morales has been a volunteer with the Hunters Search and Rescue Team for about a year and a half.
The Diego Martin native and mother of two learnt about the non-government organisation after a family member went missing.
“No family member wants to call the number during a time like that,” she said. “I made a missing persons report at the police station and then called the Hunters Search and Rescue number.” After two days, the missing family member was reunited with her and the rest of her family.
She recalled, “For those two days, a member of the Hunters Search and Rescue Team was in the yard. We were receiving updates every step of the way.”
Led by Captain Vallence Rambharat, the Hunters Search and Rescue Team was formed about three years ago. The volunteers, most of whom are experienced in hunting in forested areas, use their skills to help find missing people. The team has conducted approximately 500 search-and-rescue operations, reunited many families, and even discovered bodies in the process. It was the passion and dedication of the team members that inspired Andrews-Morales to join.
“After the incident with my missing family member, I asked to join the team,” she said. “I was referred to Captain Vallence Rambharat, after which I had to go through a trial process.” For three months, Andrew-Morales, who had no prior experience in hunting, went out on missions with the team before becoming a full member.
She joined six other women and 25 men who form the group.
She said, “The upcoming team members go on certain searches. Once interest is shown and compliance with what the team requires, you then become a member after a three-month period.”
For Andrews-Morales, volunteering is the least she can do to help with an issue that has become prevalent in T&T. “There are various reasons people go missing; crime is a main factor,” she said.
“There are a lot of medical conditions like dementia or Alzheimer’s that cause people to go missing as well, also mental issues.”
Apart from the TTPS, the team partners with family members to ascertain how to engage with the missing person. “We’ve had instances where the same person goes missing on more than one occasion,” she said. “We tend not to turn down people; if your family member goes missing 100 times, we will be there 100 times for you.”
Her hardest mission to date is that of murdered TT RideShare driver Shakem Charles, who went missing. Charles, 32, of Indian Walk, was last seen on July 9 around 5 pm, when he left his girlfriend’s home at Manahambre Road, Princes Town, in his white Yaris Cross. He was found dead on July 13 in a bushy area off Sunrees Branch Road, Penal.
Police said the findings of an autopsy performed at the Forensic Science Centre were that he died from multiple gunshot wounds, and investigators believe robbery was the motive behind his murder. The father of two worked for an audio-visual installation company in Port-of-Spain.
Three days before his disappearance, he had registered with TT RideShare to earn extra money to pay for his vehicle, which he had bought three weeks earlier. “Out of all the missions I have been on, that was the hardest for me,” she said. “We went into the forest to look for him with his brother and co-workers, and all of them had him down as a respectable person.
“What made it difficult for me was that he was on a platform where you earn an extra dollar. When you go out there thinking you are going to make ends meet for your family, doing something extra, you are not sure to come back home. That has been very hard.”
About a month ago, Andrews-Morales also began working at St Jude’s Home for Girls. “I go and talk to the girls in there and make sure they do what they have to do. Especially at night, make sure they are in their houses,” she said. “A lot of people think these girls are very disrespectful. They are a beautiful bunch of people. I don’t believe in bashing young people. It’s just a sense of direction some people need, and if their parents and guardians are not giving them it, they will go outside looking for it.” Andrews-Morales believes there is a need for more engagement with the youth.
“When you talk street talk with them, you tend to get through with them faster,” she said.
“I love what I do at St Jude’s and with the Hunters Search and Rescue Team. It’s a passion that has always been in me, and I love to outpour.”