Five years on, relatives of missing man still hoping for closure

The holiday season may be a time of joy for many, but for relatives of 72-year-old Eral Keith Whitely, they are a stark reminder that their beloved family member remains missing.

It has been five years since Whitely disappeared without a trace during the Christmas holidays in 2018, and the pain of not knowing what happened to him continues to haunt his family, including his step-granddaughter Theresa Drummonds.

“He was a very loving and kind man, as everybody knows, I’m sure. He was very outgoing, chatty, and very well known. He was married to my grandmother for many years, and basically [he] was the only grandfather that I had in my life growing up,” she said in a recent interview with the Cayman Compass on the anniversary of Whitely’s disappearance.

Whitely, of George Town, was reported missing in Christmas 2018 and who was last seen in the vicinity of Brushy Avenue in George Town. Police said at the time that the last confirmed sighting of the missing man had been on Boxing Day, 26 Dec.

In the following two weeks, there had also been unconfirmed sighting of him in the vicinity of Seymour Road, also known as the Dump Road.

Police searches were conducted in the area but no sign of the elderly man had been found.

Trail runs cold

Drummonds said the family also searched for Whitely, but reports of sightings stopped coming in.

“It just went cold, literally it went cold, nothing. They [police] have not followed up, they have not reached out… we have not got any updates… any calls, nothing,” she said.

Police, when contacted by the Compass, said Whitely’s case remains open, and they encouraged anyone with information pertaining to this case to contact their local police station, or call 911.

“As of September 2019, there had been no new information received and no new leads into the disappearance of Eral Keith Whitely. The family was advised of this status at the time,” the police said in a brief statement.

Drummonds said all the family wants is to know what happened to Whitely and to get some closure.

“Not knowing hurts more,” she said, adding that her uncle Keith, Whitely’s son, grieves for his father every day and has been ailing since the 72-year-old disappeared.

“He loves his father very much… he dreams of him often,” she said.

She said when news broke in late November this year that male skeletal remains had been found in the East End mangroves, the family feared it had been Whitely.

However, police later confirmed that the remains were of another missing man – 26-year-old Jamaican national Adrian Williamson.

Call for closure

Drummonds said Whitely was well loved and has not been forgotten.

She said her step-grandfather lived alone and was independent for his age, but he also had his battle with his demons.

Drummonds said it is unclear when Whitely disappeared, as there were conflicting reports, but when he did not visit family during the holidays, it raised a red flag for them.

This is when they began calling around looking for him.

Drummonds said it is still mystifying that, in a community as close knit as Cayman, someone like Whitely can going missing and no one knows anything.

“It’s just really, really surreal. How can somebody just disappear like that? An elderly man? He didn’t do anything to anybody… So it’s just puzzling what happened,” she said.

Drummonds said she hopes there are people in the community who can help give the family closure if they come forward.

She pleaded for anyone who may have any information to get in touch with the police and help solve this case.

“He has family that wonder and worry all the time about him and wonder what happened. Why is he not where he is supposed to be? Four years later, and we’re still wondering that. Why isn’t somebody coming forward?

“Even if you have the slightest idea, or think it’s nothing that is important… everything is important. We would really appreciate it if somebody that saw anything, knows anything, heard of anything, would just come forward,” she said.

Drummonds said it is heartbreaking to see the condition her uncle, who is battling severe illness, is in, and not to know where his father is or what happened to him.

“It would give us some kind of closure and it would bring my uncle a little bit of joy just knowing, because right now he is in a dark place and anything that can heal him mentally [and] physically, we would be most grateful.

“We just want to have something… some kind of idea of what happened to our grandfather, to our uncle, to our dad, to our brother. It’s just heart wrenching,” she added.

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