Son of missing woman has one wish for Christmas

In May of this year, Jayden Ricketts had high hopes of delivering a Mother’s Day card he made at school for his mother, Vincia James, who has been missing since April 7. Now, nearly six months on, the seven-year-old boy’s only wish for Christmas is to be wrapped up in his mother’s loving arms.
During an interview with OBSERVER media yesterday, James’s mother Jeriann Haywood, said this is the recurring wish of the young boy who uses every opportunity to inquire about his mother and when she will return home.
“Every now and again, he would ask for her and whether or not we are still searching. The other day during the hurricane when the electricity came off, he said, ‘Grandma there is two things that I want, I want the lights to come back and my mommy to come back’.  I told him the lights would come back, and his mommy will come back,” Haywood said.
“On another occasion, I was throwing out some small soaps, and he again said, ‘grandma why are you throwing out my mommy’s soap, what will she use when she comes back?’”
Haywood said each time a question is asked the lad is assured that the family is still keeping hope alive and that someday soon her 27-year-old daughter will walk through the doors of their New Winthropes home.
James was last seen leaving her workplace, Dixie Betting Company on Old Parham Road at around 1.10 p.m. on April 7.
Relatives have not heard from her since and they, along with the police, defence force and scores of residents have been searching for her, with no clue as to her whereabouts.
The government also offered a reward of $10,000 for information that could lead to finding her, while the family and a businessman offered an additional $6,500 for such information.
The police have since charged James’ ex-boyfriend, Mikhail Gomes of Pigotts with her murder, although she is still missing.
 “October 7 will make six months since she disappeared and we have not received any information about her whereabouts. The grace of God is what is keeping us. Every day I ask God for strength to be there for my grandson and the rest of my family,” Haywood said.
She also recalled that the day before James disappeared she was expected to go to town to get last minute items for her son who was expected to undergo surgery in the following week on April 12.
“When she left work, the Thursday, – she was supposed to meet up with Ricketts’s father to take him (Jayden) to the doctor for his last checkup before the operation,” Haywood recounted.
The child’s operation had to be rescheduled as a result of his mother’s disappearance.
As the days go by Haywood said the family continuously reassures the young lad that “mommy loves him very much and she will be home soon”.