Reeling from the tragic death of her only daughter Nadia Simms, Nafeesa Simms yesterday warned young citizens that they should scrutinise everyone offering help or trying to befriend them.
Speaking at her Rochard Road, Penal home yesterday, Nafeesa said there were predators out there seeking to prey upon unsuspecting people who genuinely need help.
Simms, who would have celebrated her 25th birthday next Tuesday was found dead on Wednesday. Hunters found her body buried in a shallow grave off a Petrotrin Field Road, Santa Flora.
She had gone to meet a 31-year-old Santa Flora man last Saturday, who had promised to help her with a work at a WASA facility in Santa Flora.
An autopsy by pathologist Dr Eslyn McDonald-Burris, at the Forensic Science Centre, yesterday was inconclusive pending the results of toxicology results, police said.
Having been unemployed for several months last year and being laid off from the Giant Panda Restaurant and Bar along the Penal Rock Road, Penal two weeks ago, Simms was desperate for a new job.
It was that desperation that the suspect used to lure her to an area near his Santa Flora home where it was believed he killed her. Workers at the Giant Panda Restaurant and Bar said the suspect was a regular customer at the restaurant and he drank a lot of alcohol.
Following Simms dismissal, Nafeesa said the suspect called her phone last week, asking why she was not at work.
It was then he told her that he worked WASA and could get her a job. However, it was later learned that the suspect sold yams for a living.
"When I asked her what he did, she did not know. Now we know he sells yams. Normally I don't ask my daughter about her phone calls but for some reason on that day, when I heard her talking to that person, I asked who was that. She was not hesitant in telling who was that. She said "(name called), he comes by the restaurant and he is working WASA.' He told her he will help her get a job. I cautioned her about these pranksters who would use every trick in the book to get at her," Nafeesa said.
Simms left her home around 7.30 am Saturday to meet the suspect and was not been seen or heard from by her family again. Video footage from the Giant Panda Restaurant and Bar showed that she and the suspect were at the restaurant until 1 pm.
The suspect's relatives said that Simms was brought to their home where she ate a piece of macaroni pie.
Residents recalled seeing the suspect and Simms walking in the street, but did not see them walk back out. For four days Penal police and relatives searched Rochard Road, at the suspect's relatives home, and the area around the suspect's house.
The 31-year-old suspect remained in police custody last night and was expected to be interviewed by detectives of the Homicide Bureau.