One year ago a mother faced a difficult decision, unaware that it would change her life forever. On that morning, Gale Lammy made arrangements with her little eight year old girl to take a taxi home after school for the first time.
With little Leah's phone dead, her mother exchanged cell phones with the child, taking Leah's with her to be charged while she worked. She gave strict instructions to keep the phone off until after school.
When school was let out, Gale called her daughter time and time again, only to find her calls going straight to voicemail. Calls to her father confirmed that he had not picked her up from school, and the frantic mother made her way to the school compound beginning the search for her daughter.
At some point that night the cell phone was answered, but not by Leah. A male voice told the distraught mother that if she wanted to see her child again, she would have to pay TT$300,000. That was the last time the phone was answered.
Leah has not been seen since that day.
She is not forgotten.
Gale Lammy worked with police investigators for days before eventually breaking her silence and pleading for the public's help in finding Leah.
The anguish of a mother's heart touched the nation, and for many, Leah came to symbolize what was very wrong in our country.
Too many girls had gone missing, particularly in Central Trinidad, after boarding PH taxis (private cars for hire). Many suspected that human trafficking was becoming a profitable business for a few. Many lived crippled with fear, and some made the decision to migrate and leave these shores for good.
Since then there has been an arrest and an ongoing trial, but there is a lot of mystery surrounding Leah and her accused kidnapper - Salis Mack. He says he knows exactly what happened to Leah but refuses to talk unless his family is given protected status and relocated outside of Trinidad and Tobago. He claims that the people involved are very well connected and well-respected businessmen.
It would seem that he has indeed not talked, since Gale Lammy has had no closure with respect to her daughter's disappearance. No new word on what has happened to Leah, and whether there is any hope of finding her.
Here's what I find interesting.
That we, to this date, categorically deny that there has ever been human trafficking taking place in Trinidad and Tobago.
In my humble opinion, there is always a possibility of something happening, unless you have facts that prove otherwise. Why is our law enforcement insisting otherwise without providing us with any details to support their rejection of this theory, despite the continued disappearance of young women in our country?
Human trafficking or not, we have a problem. Our citizens continue to go missing. We cannot continue to live in fear and hope to have a productive society. And we cannot allow our youth to be taken.
The mentality of "Anything to make a dollar" cannot be one that we accept.
Salis Mack insists he was "just doing a job".
Since his arrest, the wave of girls disappearing in PH taxis in Central Trinidad appears to have slowed considerably. Let us hope that he will one day lead Gale to her daughter.
Today please pray for Gale Lammy.
And remember Leah. Let her not be forgotten.
