(Trinidad Express) Five months after he was abducted, victim Darrell Cuffy was released yesterday.
Around 1 a.m. Cuffy was released near the Caroni Bird Sanctuary and was helped by a passing motorist to contact police and his family.
On April 25, Cuffy, 18, was driving his father’s BMW in Fairways, Maraval when he was snatched by the occupants of a dark coloured Honda CR-V.
Residents contacted the St Clair police and officers found the black BMW hatchback parked along Collens Road with the engine still running.
The boy’s father, Farrell Cuffy, had said he had not received any phone call from kidnappers demanding a ransom.
He said his son, a graduate of Trinity College, has taken a year off before continuing his studies.
The case was investigated by officers of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit and Port of Spain CID.
Farrell Cuffy spoke to police officers yesterday morning.
According to a media release from the police service, Police Commissioner Gary Griffith received a call from Cuffy’s mother around 1.30 a.m. confirming his release.
Upon receipt of confirmation, members of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit (AKU) were immediately dispatched to the family’s home.
Griffith met with Cuffy’s parents two weeks ago, and provided credible information on the matter.
“Further information had revealed that Cuffy was still being held by the kidnappers. The TTPS intensified their operations seeking a release of Mr. Cuffy. Perpetrators of the kidnapping are still being actively pursued by members of the TTPS”, the release stated.
“In this regard, the TTPS continues to steadily increase and maximize its resources within various arms and units of the Police Service including the AKU, to treat with matters of abduction and other serious crimes. Mr. Cuffy’s release and return to his family underscores the Commissioner’s resolve to adequately tool, train and support members of the special units, with continued attention to the coming on stream of the re-opening of ‘cold cases’,” it stated.