After more than two weeks of failed attempts to contact his 11-year-old daughter, United States resident Brian Pertab has returned home to find her as he fears that she is being kept from him by her mother.
Neither Gabriela Pertab, a student of Marian Academy, nor her mother, Venezuelan national Veronica Escobar, of 229 D’Andrade Street, Newtown, Kitty, have been seen or heard from for close to three weeks, he said.
According to a Facebook post made by him on Thursday afternoon, the family’s dog, Snowy, is also missing.
After numerous phone calls over the past two weeks to Escobar went unanswered, Pertab made the decision to contact the child’s school and he was told that she had not been attending classes.
A report was filed with the police after Pertab’s return on Tuesday and checks have since been made with immigration to determine whether they would have left the country, but records do not indicate so. The man related that he has no other relatives living here, and while he contacted Escobar’s older daughter, she related that she had no information regarding her mother’s whereabouts.
Although Pertab and Escobar share a relationship, the man related to Stabroek News yesterday that his chief concern is for the welfare of the child.
“My main concern is my daughter. Adults do things but they are responsible for their own actions. Children are not…I’m very, very concerned for the welfare of the child. Adults can take care of themselves, children really can’t,” the visibly distraught man stated.
Asked whether there was any strife between the two in the past weeks, Pertab stated no, but related that the only theory he has come up with is that Escobar may have changed her mind regarding allowing their daughter to migrate.
Pertab said that the two were supposed to be traveling overseas but Escobar had expressed to him that she was not interested in migrating to the United States. Nevertheless, he had filed documents for his daughter to migrate.
“I am just assuming that this is the case ’cause we would have had conversations on it subsequently, but why would you do something so stupid? So I’m just assuming that these are some of the possibilities,” he said.
Pertab stated that aside from those concerns, the matter is still being treated as a missing persons’ case, and related that he spoke with the Crime Chief up to yesterday, who assured him that investigations were launched into the matter.
Asked how often he makes contact with his daughter and her mother, Pertab said that he would speak to them as much as several times a week. He related that his last contact with his daughter and the child’s mother was in the week prior to the sudden loss in communication.
Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Gabriela Pertab and Escobar can contact Brian Pertab on 2262407, 2252694, 2318676 or 611-0777, or can make contact with the nearest police station.
