– Mother of missing teen calls on those hiding the truth to come forward
Three years after her son mysteriously disappeared from a remote Region Seven mining camp, Jennifer Henry says she is still waiting for justice, and for the people she believes are hiding the truth, to come forward.
Henry’s child, 16-year-old Akeem Bissoon, vanished on June 14, 2022, while staying with relatives at the Aruwai airstrip. Since then, his mother says she has received no meaningful updates from the Police, despite her repeated attempts to follow up.
Missing since 2022: Akeem Bissoon
“I went to the Police a few months ago to ask again,” she said during an interview on Sunday. “But still, nobody is telling me anything. No update. No movement. It’s like my son never existed.”
Now, she’s making a direct appeal, not to the authorities, but to those she believes are holding on to a dangerous secret.
“They know that my son didn’t just disappear,” she said. “His disappearance was well-planned. I have all the evidence,”she claimed.
Though she did not go into detail about that evidence, Henry made it clear that she no longer believes this is simply a case of a child gone missing.
“I think the truth is already out there,” she said. “But it’s just silent; maybe because I’m just the mother and people think I don’t have power, and I am poor.”
Henry said the silence from those who were last with her son is deafening and suspicious. She believes those individuals must come forward and say what happened that day, not just for her peace of mind, but for Akeem’s dignity.
“They must speak the truth,” she said. “Not for me, do it for Akeem. He was an innocent child. And at the end of the day, God knows the truth. The only thing that will set them free is the truth. To clear the guilty conscience, they should speak.”
The teen had reportedly travelled from Georgetown with his uncle, on June 8, 2022, to the interior where the uncle lived and worked. Akeem, who had been raised since he was three, by his uncle and his wife, who is Henry’s sister, was staying with the couple at the time of his disappearance.
According to the initial account, Harlequin stated that Akeem was sitting outside while he was cooking inside, and when he returned moments later, the teen was gone. His phone and slippers were found nearby, but no further trace of him was ever discovered.
Henry said she was not informed directly about her son’s disappearance and had to learn about it from another relative the following day.
Though Police initially arrested Harlequin for questioning, he was released within 72 hours, and the investigation appeared to lose momentum. Henry said the search effort was short-lived, and the case has been cold ever since.
Henry told this publication that her situation is very stressful and the pain of not knowing what happened to her only child is compounded by the belief that the people closest to him, and to her, are allegedly withholding information.
“It’s something terrible to live with, not knowing what’s going to happen,” she said. “I keep praying, I keep hoping. But they know what happened,” she alleged.
She said that her message to the authorities and anyone reading this story is simple: “Don’t do it for me. Do it for Akeem.”
The woman is asking if anyone has information about her son, contact the nearest Police station or call Jennifer Henry at 684-7056.
