NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The disappearance of two women in Long Island was described by loved ones as a nightmare.
Jane Harding, 62, and her 34-year-old daughter Melissa Hui were reportedly last seen at their home in Salt Pond on Tuesday evening.
Harding’s sister, Lorette Harding-Perez told Eyewitness News that the family and wider community are still trying to grasp the reality of the situation.
“It feels as if we are in a nightmare, in a bad dream,” said Perez, who works as a teacher on New Providence.
“…The two of them live together and we just cannot imagine why anyone would want to come and abduct them, or take them or harm them and we are just at a lost right now as to what exactly happened.
“We are asking why. We are so hurt. We are so disillusioned and we are so worried about what the outcome of this going to be.”
Police issued a missing persons bulletin for the pair on Wednesday.
Harding, a mother of two girls, is retired.
Perez said the family became alarmed that there was something wrong when Hui did not show up to work at the gas station on Wednesday.
The station is located about five minutes away from her home, she said.
Perez said Hui’s boss contacted a nearby relative to check on her because her absence was unusual.
She added Hui took her job very seriously and had never missed a day.
Perez said that when her nephew went to their home, “he met the TV on, he met a cup of tea that had been made and hadn’t been drank, and Melissa’s wallet, her car keys were there.
She continued: “The door wasn’t fully closed, the lights were on, and Melissa’s car was in the yard.
“They have simply just disappeared.
“There’s no signs of struggle. There’s no signs of forced entry.”
Perez said she last spoke to Harding via Facebook Messenger shortly after 4pm on Tuesday afternoon.
“A mind just told me contact her and see how she was doing,” she said.
Perez said Harding told her that she and her daughter were “fine”, adding the conversation lasted about fifteen minutes.
Harding’s other daughter Samantha – who lives in Canada – also reached out to Hui on Tuesday night, Perez said.
Samantha reportedly sent her sister a message shortly after 10 pm, but did not get a response.
Perez said the app indicated the message had been read.
Yesterday, she made an impassioned plea for their safe return.
“Janie and Melissa, you are greatly loved and greatly missed, and we are praying for you and holding on that you are still alive and you are safe,” she said.
“Please know you are loved and we are trying our best to get you back and may God keep you all safe and bring you back safely to us.”
She added that their friends and family members on Long Island are “so stressed out” and “tears are being shed”.
“So many tears are going up right now on their behalf, and ever since it happened,” Perez said.
“We are holding onto God’s unchanging hand, and that’s the only thing we can hold on to and believe that he still has them alive.
“…We are holding onto our faith that we are going to find them safe and sound.”
