Tobago Correspondent
The disappearance of two Tobago fishermen has taken a physical and emotional toll on their relatives.
It has been one week since friends David Mclean and Kester Alexander left Scarborough port on October 9 for a fishing trip aboard the vessel Predator. They failed to return home that afternoon, and neither the men nor the vessel has been seen since.
Mclean’s father, David Mclean Snr, a boat operator, immediately began searching near the vessel’s last known GPS location, southwest of Tobago. He continued until 2 am on October 10. Despite multiple searches, support from the Coast Guard and aerial searches by volunteers in private planes, the men remain missing.
Mclean’s sister, Misty, said the ordeal had distressed both families, as the men are experienced seamen. The uncertainty and anxiety had left her a nervous wreck, she said, clinging to hope each time her phone rang.
Speaking to Guardian Media in Lowlands on Thursday, she said the stress was growing.
“Nobody is getting any sleep. Nobody can’t eat. You feeling bad to eat. It’s really hard,” she said.
Mclean said the family wanted to know what had happened to her brother and his friend.
“We don’t have any answers. We just guessing. It’s hard not knowing.”
She confirmed the search for the men in local waters had been called off, as the currents would have carried them beyond T&T’s maritime boundaries if the vessel had stalled.
“We have exhausted the reach of T&T, and according to the drift pattern, they are out of our waters now. We did what we could. We can’t go out and search in our waters anymore—they’re not there.”
She said the families had received support from friends and concerned stakeholders.
She said efforts were being made to contact ships near South America and ask them to look out for the vessel. Authorities in Grenada, Venezuela, Curaçao and the US have also been notified.
