Family of missing British man offers $500,000 reward 

Nearly three years after British citizen Cedric Mitchell disappeared in Jamaica, his family is offering a $500,000 reward for information that could finally bring them desperately needed answers and closure.

“We’re willing to accept that he has passed away., Hhe would have contacted his family, his friends. We just want closure, and we want to find out the truth,” his sister, Maxine Mitchell, told The Gleaner. 

She also voiced frustration over what she described as the authorities’ lacklustre response in the search for her 56-year-old brother.

“Cedric was last seen under circumstances that remain deeply concerning to his family. Since his disappearance, we believe there are several critical areas of evidence that may not yet have been fully examined or clearly addressed in the official investigation,” Maxine said. 

She identified several key areas of concern, including banking activity and financial records that could help trace his movements, contacts, or transactions before his disappearance; WhatsApp messages, call logs, and other digital communications; as well as missing personal documents such as his passport and vehicle registration papers. 

She also appealed for witness accounts that could shed light on the circumstances surrounding Mitchell’s disappearance. 

“We are not making accusations against any individual. This appeal is made solely in the interest of clarity, transparency, and a full understanding of what happened to Cedric,” she said. 

In January last year when The Gleaner highlighted the family’s plight, Assistant Superintendent of Police Jamar Stoner, who oversees the charge portfolio in the St Elizabeth Police Division, said the cops had exhausted all channels in trying to find Mitchell, and were seeking any information from the public that could help in finding him.

“After a certain amount of time passes, the information is harder to obtain, and that’s the problem that they (relatives) are facing; no new leads to follow,” he said at the time.

On Monday, investigator officer Garnett Smith told The Gleaner that no new leads hadve been established since.

Maxine said that her brother, who had divided his time between Jamaica and England for 22 years, went missing from his home on Nation Road in Pepper district, St Elizabeth, on July 29, 2023.

She said she was alerted to his disappearance when Mitchell, who was usually very active on his phone, failed to respond to her messages and calls.

Maxine said a friend of her brother’s made a report to the Santa Cruz Police Station, but the police required a relative of the missing man to corroborate the story.

As a result, she travelled to Jamaica from England on September 29, 2023, and made the report. She remained in Jamaica for 11 months, desperate to find her brother and to provide any assistance she could. 

When those efforts proved fruitless, she returned home to the United Kingdom.

In April of this year, she travelled to Jamaica again in hopes of getting some answers. 

“But nothing has come to fruition, again. I’m going to go away, but I’m coming back next year if nothing comes of this,” she said. 

Maxine said her brother has six children:; three adults who live in England, and three teenagers from his marriage to a Jamaican woman.

He reportedly divorced his Jamaican wife in 2015.

Maxine added that Mitchell worked as a truck driver in England and sold art. He was in the process of setting up a tour business before his disappearance.

She said her brother’s disappearance has taken a toll on her family, especially his 87-year-old mother. 

“She has deteriorated from all of this. She looks older, but she’s still in hope and in prayer. She is hoping and praying, but at the same time, she is saying, ‘This can't be happening. My son must have passed away now.’ It’s hard., Iit's very hard,” she said.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com