The mother and relatives of a 25-year-old Linden woman are seeking help in locating her after she vanished more than two weeks ago during a planned trip to Mackenzie.

On March 14, Monette Jacobs got up as usual and attended to her children: seven-year-old Atifa and two-year-old Joel. She then bathed and left her One Mile Wismar home dressed in a pink cap-sleeve jersey, a pair of denim shorts and a pair of cream-coloured, flat sandals and headed across the river to Mackenzie with plans to return home later that same morning.

The woman’s mother Cheryl Antigua told Stabroek News that when her daughter failed to return home all day into the evening she became worried. She said several attempts to locate Monette proved futile and since that time no one has seen or heard from her.

One relative told this newspaper that she had seen the young woman at “Four corner” in Mackenzie but nothing seemed amiss. However, after learning that her niece had not been seen since that time she opined that the woman may have ventured into the interior as persons who journey into the interior would join various forms of transportation at the said junction.

At the time she went missing, Monette was employed by her uncle who owns and operates Ashton’s Grocery Store. A check with the man revealed that Monette did not show up for work one week prior to her disappearance while her mother believed that she had reported for work every day.

Antigua said too when she reported her daughter missing at the Wismar Police Station, she was told “da is a big woman and she muss be gan in deh bush with she man.” The woman said despite the fact that 48 hours had elapsed after Monette vanished the police did not take her statement. Desperate for assistance in locating her daughter Antigua sought the assistance of a Linden NGO a few days ago and with assistance from a probation officer who accompanied her to the police station, an official report was made.

In the meantime, Antigua is seeking assistance to care for her two grandchildren. The woman said, “I am a very poor woman and I don’t have anything most days to give them to eat.” She said Monette receives public assistance from the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security for the children and she would be happy if some temporary measure could be put in place for her to access the money until her daughter returns or her whereabouts are confirmed. Persons with any information about Monette’s whereabouts are asked to contact her mother at telephone number 602-9968 or the nearest police station.