Kenicia Francis
The police said that DNA tests have confirmed that remains found more than a year ago were those of two young men who had been reported missing, 19-year-old Shamar Harrigan of Willikies and 24-year-old Noah Hurst of Lightfoot.
Yesterday, Commissioner of Police Atlee Rodney, and other senior officers held a meeting with the families of Harrigan and Hurst at Police Headquarters to disclose the DNA results of the samples sent abroad for forensic analysis.
Commissioner Rodney told the families he cannot begin to imagine the anxiety and pain they had to endure while awaiting the official results.
He offered words of comfort to each family and thanked them for their patience.
He further assured that the police would continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths of both men.
Rodney also expressed thanks to the public and the Government of Antigua and Barbuda for their support and assistance in both matters.
The police are also asking the public to provide any additional information on these matters to assist with their ongoing investigation.
Harrigan was last seen on November 14, 2022, and his disappearance triggered a massive search by foot and air after The Calvin Ayre Foundation (CAF) volunteered the use of CalvinAir Helicopters, manned by experienced search and rescue pilots, to assist with locating the 19-year-old autistic youth.
However, on December 7, 2022, relatives and members of local NGO, the Blue Dragonfly Foundation, the police and their K9 Unit and other volunteers conducted a search at Rome’s Estate in the Willikies area.
Harrigan’s clothes, shoes, and backpack – items he was last seen with – were discovered.
His sister Shauntelle Barton told Observer that forensic experts took swabs from the family and made promises to expedite the process, given the urgency of the situation.
However, even after the discovery of items with which he was last seen, Barton said hope remained.
“There were times we felt like giving up. We have been struggling to hold on, but hope is keeping us alive. The matter is still a sensitive topic for our mom. She doesn’t want to believe that it is Shamar’s remains that were found.” she said in 2022 one month into the search.
However, yesterday brought an unfortunate closure to Shamar’s family regarding his disappearance
Meanwhile, Hurst was last seen at home on May 23, 2023, exactly one year before his remains were positively identified. His mother always believed he was killed.
However, after the police found a partly decomposed body in some bushes near Diamond Estate on June 19, 2023, the families of several missing people were called in to identify the remains and take DNA tests to facilitate official confirmation.
However, since last year his mother, Maria Hurst, had voiced her suspicions that the remains belonged to her son and had told Observer that she recognised the clothes shown to her by the police, including the hair on the body found, which was braided.
“They showed me some clothing; I know this is my son’s clothes. I am 90 to 95 percent sure because I know his clothing. I know my son; I know my child. Noah lived with me; he is my only child … I know his clothes, and I know his hair,” she said at the time.
“I knew something was wrong when I couldn’t find Noah. I just want to know why they killed my son. Am I a mother dog? Should they kill my child and throw him in the bushes like a dog? They could have killed him in front of my yard and left him there for me … What was the motive for killing my only son?” she questioned.
She also believed the police were dragging their feet on the matter and not treating her son’s case seriously.
“I kept going to the police station over and over. They treated me like I was being disgusting. Their body language was telling me, she again? They don’t care. It is like nothing to them. From the beginning I have been going to them, and they treat the situation like I made a report that cucumbers were stolen from my yard. They treat the matter as if it wasn’t a human being that is missing,” she said.
She claimed that after sitting on a police desk for several months, her son’s phone was finally shipped to Barbados to be unlocked since lawmen could not crack the security pattern.
“His phone has a pin pattern, and we couldn’t crack it. We gave the police the phone and the phone was just sitting there. I took an entire week off from working, walking up and down to find answers,” she said.
Along with her husband, Maria said she went to the mobile provider to obtain a copy of her son’s cell phone records and found that he had spoken to a young man the evening of his disappearance.
“I told that to the police. I gave them his number, and they called him in. The boy reported that he and Noah were chatting. The records show they talked about four times that night for several minutes…the boy was questioned and released…” she explained.
Maria said she felt like she was doing the job of the police and was baffled at their apparent nonchalant attitude towards human life.
