Woman, 21, abducted in Toco

JADE SOLIS, 21, daughter of prominent Port-of-Spain businessman Eric Solis was abducted on Saturday night while spending the weekend with a group of family and friends at a beach house in Galera Point, Toco. According to police reports, the group of young people from Maraval, Glencoe  and other places in West Trinidad, were having dinner on Saturday night at about 8.30 pm, when a man armed with a gun and cutlass walked into the house and robbed them of three cellular phones and a digital camera. The gunman then grabbed hold of Jade Solis and rushed out of the house with her. He was last seen holding on to Solis and heading into the nearby forest. Up to late last night, there was no news as to whether Solis had been found or was still missing, since police sources refused to give any information about the incident.

After the hold-up and snatching of Solis were reported to police, Newsday understands a team of senior policemen headed by ACP (Crime) Gilbert Reyes went to the scene. A National Security helicopter outfitted with powerful searchlights was also used to carry out an aerial search of the forest for Solis. However, up to late yesterday it was not known if she was found. About 1.15 pm yesterday, a man went to the Toco Police Station accompanied by his son who was immediately held by the police. According to reports, the detained man is a former soldier of the TT Regiment who was recently freed by the courts on a murder charge. A few hours later, a second man was held by the Toco police who are continuing their investigations.

Relatives of the group at the Toco beach house reacted in a very hostile manner to Newsday’s photographer who was virtually chased away from the beach house while police who stood nearby did not intervene although the photographer was standing on the public road. The Toco police are being assisted by the Anti-Kidnapping Squad (AKS), the Special Anti-Crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (SAUTT), the Homicide Bureau and other elite investigative arms of the TT Police Service. When Newsday attempted to contact Eric Solis late yesterday evening, a woman who answered the telephone claimed she did not know anything about an abduction and added that the only person who could help was the father. However, the caller said that Eric Solis was not at home.