NASSAU, BAHAMAS – A frantic Barbara Saunders on Thursday alleged that she has been unable to contact her son Marvin Pratt since he was arrested last week Wednesday by officers of the Drug Enforcement Unit.
Saunders claimed that repeated attempts to inquire about Marvin at CDU, who may have also used the name Marvin Saunders, proved fruitless.
Saunders said she was told that she would have to file a missing person’s report as CDU allegedly could not give an account for him.
According to Saunders, last week Wednesday the DEU reportedly pulled up to her son’s residence and arrested him.
Saunders said that her neighbour Rose Francis witnessed the whole ordeal and therefore brought the alleged arrest to her attention when she [the neighbour] realized that family members were asking for Marvin.
When Francis was asked to recall the events, she alleged that she saw a blue jeep pull up and she attempted to warn Marvin of the jeep’s presence by shouting, “Marvin, the man, the man!”
“But he could not hear me,” Francis claimed. “And so I tried again and when he finally heard me they had blocked in the both of us.
“The DEU said if I open my (expletive) mouth they will shoot me, so I said, ‘you’ll just have to shoot me’ and after that they took him [Marvin] and put the handcuffs on him and put him in the back of this blue jeep and pulled off.
“They told me not to tell anybody (expletive) nothing,” Francis alleged.
The incident reportedly happened last Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.
Marvin’s cousin Reniska Rigby said after not hearing from Marvin, they went to his house and found the keys in the door, and this was when they began to search and ask around for him. Rigby said eventually Rose [the neighbour] came and told them what had happened the previous day.
Rigby said because it was not her cousin’s first run-in with the law, the family felt that once he received his phone upon release, he would have contacted the family.
“So, my aunt [ Barbara Saunders] said she would wait to hear from him,” Rigby said.
“[But on] Friday no call [from Marvin] and on Saturday she [Marvin’s mother] decided this isn’t making any sense and she went to the CDU,” Rigby said.
Marvin’s mother recalled what happened when she went to CDU.
“I said, ‘goodnight, do you have a Marvin Saunders or a Marvin Pratt, ’” Saunders recalled.
“He [the officer] said, ‘you’ll come to stand his bail aye’ and I said, ‘yes I came to stand his bail’, so he walked away and went in the back.
“He came back and he said he is not here and you have to file a missing [persons] report.”
Saunders said she then filed a complaint at the police headquarters regarding her son’s disappearance but since then, she has had no luck finding him.
The concerned mother said she would seek legal assistance but she does not have the funds [to hire a lawyer].
Saunders also admitted that her son is known to police.
Eyewitness News contacted Assistant Commissioner of Police Emerick Seymour for comment but he said that he was not aware of the matter but will be looking into it.
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