Search for missing teacher ends in heartbreak

A week of intense searching for Nattalie Dawkins, a teacher at Four Paths Primary and Junior High School in Clarendon, came to a painful end yesterday after a body, believed to be hers, was found in a shallow grave in Sandy Bay.

Search parties have been combing through bushes in St Catherine and Clarendon in search of Dawkins, who was last seen alive on March 30. Sheida Smith, a teacher at Vere Technical High School in Clarendon, was among the persons who turned up at search areas, day after day in an effort to locate Dawkins.

Hours before the skeletal remains were found in the shallow grave, Smith told THE WEEKEND STAR that she was prepared to go as long as it took until Dawkins was found.

Extremely afraid

Following Dawkins' disappearance, a team of teachers combined forces with the police and soldiers in an attempt to find her. However, they, like family members and well-wishers, were left broken hearted when the discovery of the decomposing body signalled the end to the search.

"I feeling a bit down right now and extremely afraid," Smith said. "While I wait on the DNA results (to confirm identity), my gut feeling is telling me it may be her. This is scary and a cause for concern. As young women, we are not safe. I fear for my life, the life of my children and the life of my fellow colleagues," she said. "As a justice of the peace for the parish, I felt the need to speak out. She is a teacher and we needed to stand together in support of her. Nattalie is the sister of my cousin so she is like family."

Jasford Gabriel, president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association, said Dawkins' death represents a sad moment for the country and the teaching profession.

"When we can begin to turn on our teachers in a manner like this, we know that we need divine intervention," he said.

Lothan Cousins, member of parliament for Clarendon South Western, said he was saddened as Dawkins contributed positively to the constituency and parish. He said that the incidence of violence against women is alarming and called on the Government to implement tougher penalties to punish criminals.

"I am also calling on the Ministry of Education to deploy whatever resources are at its disposal to the Four Paths Primary School to assist immediately with grief counselling for the teachers and ancillary staff, and to extend these services to the children with whom Miss Dawkins would have interacted," he added.

Jeff Bedward, 20, who was found in possession of Dawkins' Toyota Wish motor car, was shot dead during a shootout with the police in St Catherine last Saturday. Bedward's brother and two other men are in police custody in connection with her murder.