Dad worries for runaway son

Nicholas Pinnock is convinced that his 17-year-old son Nicholas Jr has run away from home, and he is at his wit's end.

Nicholas, who hails from Horizon Park, St Catherine, has been missing since August 21. A report was made to the Spanish Town police the following day. Pinnock said he and Nicholas, who is his only child, usually shared a tight bond, but after he returned to school at Old Harbour High School following the pandemic, their relationship went downhill. He said he was hoping that his son would sit at least seven Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate subjects but was only chosen for three, which he failed.

"Growing up, we were very close, and you would hardly ever see him without me. We were sometimes like two brothers and during the first three years of high school, he was good. But after COVID came and he returned to school, he changed. I am not sure what happened. Him start to skip classes at school, although he is a brilliant child who used to teach classes. Him start follow some friends, I don't know these friends," Pinnock said. He said that he has been warning his son about heading down a "path of destruction".

"I keep telling him that cow don't know the use of his tail until him lose it. What worries me the most is that I know he is not around anybody weh good. Anything them a teach him is the wrong thing. I want him to know that he is heading down a path of destruction, and if he doesn't move away from it, he is going to pay the penalty," he said.

Pinnock said on the day Nicholas went missing, they both travelled to Portmore Pines Plaza to conduct business. While in a financial institution, he said the teenager said he was hungry and asked for money to purchase something to eat.

"I was going to give him $1,000, but because we didn't have much time left on the road I gave him $500; and from he went through the door, that was it. I haven't laid eyes on him since," he said. Pinnock believes that Nicholas took the $500 to pay his fare to return home for his personal belongings.

"He was the last person to come out of house the morning, so he took the back door key and return home and took some of his clothes, his birth certificate, passport, TRN and bank cards. We were all at church the day before, and my wife said she saw when two guys came out of a vehicle and Nicholas went to the side of the church and gave them a bag, so he had it all planned out," he said.

Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Nicholas Jr is being asked to contact the Spanish Town police at 876 984 2305 or 119.