radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Convinced that her daughter’s disappearance was linked to an abusive relationship, Rosyln Rivers yesterday pleaded with the police to rescue her daughter before it was too late.
Its been five days since Chris Rivers, 24, of El Guanapo, Rio Claro went missing and her mother is praying that she is alive. Rivers worked at the Water and Sewerage Authority and was last seen at her workplace in the WASA substation in New Grant on Monday.
“I have been watching and waiting for her to come home. I am so worried. I want her to come home alive,” Rivers wept during an interview with Guardian Media.
She said since Chris walked out of an abusive relationship last October, she has been living in a state of fear.
“She would call me when she reached to work, on her way to work and when she left work. She would lock the house and hide inside whenever she was at home. The man would come looking for her. He did not want to leave her alone even though he had other women,” Rivers said.
She explained that her daughter met the man four years ago and at first he seemed to be a quiet person. But one day while he was in Chris’s room, Rivers said she heard a loud argument followed by a loud crash and a thud.
She knocked and asked what was wrong, but a smiling Chris told her that nothing was wrong.
“She laughed and said her boyfriend was just playing the fool,” Rivers recalled.
The distraught mother said Chris hid the frequent abuse for years, covering her bruises with her clothing.
“She would laugh when we noticed the bruises and say she fell down. Once when she came to visit I gave her a hug and she winced. Later on, she showed me deep bruises on her ribs where he had pushed her down,” Rivers said.
The abuse became worse as time went by and Chris’s partner became more controlling and possessive after she decided to move in with him.
“He would monitor her phone calls and she could not answer a call until he cleared it. He would give her a certain amount of time if she came to visit and even before the time was up, he would call her several times. He was a very jealous man. She could not speak to anyone. He would become enraged,” Rivers added.
Eventually, her daughter became pregnant and then lost the baby but Rivers said she never dreamed the miscarriage was caused by licks.
In 2018, Chris suffered a broken nose.
“She told me that she ran into a door which hit her on the nose. She became pregnant again and when we went to the doctor’s office, the doctor asked her about her nose because it was black but when she said she fell down the doctor watched me in disbelief,” Rivers recalled. She said it was finally in October last year that Chris decided to leave the relationship and come to stay at her mother’s home in Rio Claro.
She took out a protection order. Rivers said her daughter was hounded by the man who eventually broke the protection order. He kicked Rivers on her stomach which Rivers believes caused her to lose the baby.
“I spent $5,000 for my daughter to do five procedures after she lost the baby. She lost a lot of blood and that man never spent a cent. Two days after the procedures he came to collect money from her,” Rivers recalled.
Police arrested a suspect yesterday and spent several hours interrogating him. He was supposed to appear in court today for breaching the protection order.
Rivers said she was continuing to pray that her daughter will come home.
“I want to see my child home alive. Since Monday I waiting for my daughter to call. Every minute I’m watching to see my daughter come home. I have two daughters but she is the youngest. I love her . She is a really nice persopn so I am begging the public and the police to help me find her,” Rivers cried.
Investigators are asking anyone with information on the woman’s whereabouts to contact the police at 999, 555, 911, 800-TIPS or any police station or via text/WhatsApp to 482-GARY (4279)