More than 24 hours after they went missing, two Rio Claro sisters and their cousin were found next door to their family’s home in an abandoned house. They are now receiving counselling as police probe the circumstances surrounding their disappearance.
Sisters, Kareena, 17, and Kashmera Baball, 13, and their cousin, Akeila Maniram, 12, appeared dishevelled but were unharmed.
The girls went missing from the Baball’s home at De Mallac Street on Tuesday. They were last seen there around 5.45 pm.
Following extensive searches by villagers, the Hunters Search and Rescue Team, relatives and police, the girls were discovered by a villager around 7.40 pm at the abandoned property, situated about 100 feet from the Baball’s home.
The girls were taken to the area police station and then to the health centre.
Clairie Thomas said he was part of the search party seeking to locate the girls but got an inclination to stay close to the abandoned house.
He said someone saw a shadow by the property and he went to investigate. Using the light from his phone, he ran to the house, opened the gate and saw someone attempt to hide.
Another member of the search party, Rayber Bowen, was with him. He told Bowen to go to the left side of the property while he went to the right side.
Thomas said he saw the three girls, whom he knew, behind a car in the garage area.
“When they see me they start to smile, I say ‘don’t smile this is a serious matter’ and they start to cry,” he said. Thomas said the girls appeared unkempt.
“We search there (abandoned house) about ten times. Is two days I did not eat and we search through the bushes. How they end up inside there (the house)?” he questioned.
A relative, who asked not to be named, said he also searched the abandoned property and the girls were not there.
He added relatives were hurt by the cruel and insensitive comments on social media after the girls disappeared.
Meanwhile, Hunters Search and Rescue Team Captain, Vallence Rambharat, said there was no way that the girls were hiding out in the abandoned house.
He said before the girls were found, his group received information about their whereabouts.
“We had information about where they were and we had information that wheresoever they were, persons there knew we were closing in on them.
“There were either of two things going to happen. Is either they were going to be sent back home or that we would have found them at the location they were,” Rambharat said.
Snr Supt of the Eastern Division Ryan Khan confirmed that the girls were unharmed. He said they were receiving counselling from the TTPS Victim and Witness Support Unit, following which they would be interviewed by investigators.
The senior officer said inquiries were continuing into the circumstances surrounding their disappearance, but added that the most important factors were their well-being and being reunited with family.
Rio Claro police are investigating.