The family of a British teenager who disappeared while shopping in the Caribbean said they were “beyond desperate” to find her as authorities investigate the possibility that she was kidnapped.
Delika White Lezama, 13, from west London, disappeared while visiting her grandmother in Trinidad more than two weeks ago.
She was last seen behind a grocery store near her grandmother’s house in the northeast town of Sangre Grande at 4 p.m. on December 17.
After realizing she hadn’t come home ten minutes later, Delika’s mother and younger brother began a frantic search that continues.
Her older sister, Danika, wrote on Facebook: “She is still missing. Has anyone seen or know where she is? We are desperate to find her.”
Messages sent to Delika’s phone were delivered, but do not appear to have been read.
A local search and rescue team is currently investigating the possibility that Delika has been kidnapped.
They are aided by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Department’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit.
The Foreign Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British child who went missing in Trinidad and Tobago and are in contact with local authorities.”
Local police said she was wearing a pink top, black skirt and pink and white Nike Air Force sneakers at the time of her disappearance.
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Delia White, her mother, who is from Greenford, told the Mirror: “She didn’t look upset or angry when she left – there was nothing to scare her away.
“I don’t see anyone who could take it away in particular, but everyone knows us, the whole community knows us, and that I come and go from the UK to see my mum all the time.”
A street in Sangre Grande
She added: “My seven-year-old son is here too, and I’m just trying to stay strong for him. Right now I don’t even have the energy to say how I feel.”
Those who know her whereabouts have been asked to contact Sangre Grande Police.
