Family frustrated with murder investigation

It has been six months since Desiree Gibbon was murdered in Montego Bay while she was on vacation, and her mother, Andrea Gibbon, and aunt Peggy Brunner say they are still searching for answers.

Not impressed with the way authorities are handling the matter, Brunner said that she is extremely frustrated and only wants to know something, anything if possible.

"We have been trying to contact detectives, the embassy, trying to get some information, begging them to divulge anything, and we are not getting that," she said.

Desiree Gibbon, 26, a model and frequent visitor to Jamaica, was found last November in bushes with her throat slashed near the Long Hill main road in St James.

Andrea Gibbon, who said that she and her late daughter were like sisters, told THE STAR that she believes the authorities do not care.

"The last time I contacted them was April 18, and they told me that they have no new information. If I don't call them, they will never call me. I think that they don't care, and I strongly believe that," she said.

However, Area One crime officer Senior Superintendent Michael Phipps said that they have been communicating with Gibbon. However, he said that they cannot divulge much information about the case to her.

ADVANCE STAGE

"We are doing a whole lot of work, and we are working with international partners. We try to update her mother who I think has called on a number of occasions, but the investigation is at a point where we don't want to discuss what we are doing. We are at an advanced stage of our investigation. However, there are some things we cannot discuss, and I believe that is where the problem lies," he said.

Gibbon said that she is desperately in need of answers because her daughter was a regular visitor to the island, and she is not sure why someone would want to kill her first born.

Meanwhile, Brunner told THE STAR that they also contacted the US Embassy in Kingston because they were simply trying to get some information.

"Even they [the embassy] are saying that the authorities there are not releasing any information to them," she said.

"It's frustrating for all of us, and at this point we don't know what to do. We can't do anything to help," she added.

Phipps, however, insists that they are always in dialogue with Gibbon.

"We have liaison persons at the US Embassy that are in contact with her, and she has the number of all the members of the investigating team, including myself who is supervising the investigation," he said.