Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says foul play should not be ruled out and urged French law enforcement authorities to question the captain of a vessel that brought a 26-year-old crew member to Dominica last month and who has since gone missing.
The French national reportedly went on a hike to the Waitukubuli National Trail, which is over 115 miles of rainforest, cloud forest, streams, and mountains.
Rescue teams are searching for the French national, identified as Marion Hermier, who police said had arrived in Dominica on board a French-registered vessel on February 4 and was not on the vessel when it left the island five days later.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said that while the local authorities are in collaboration with their French counterparts, “I have said to the Minister of National Security to communicate with the police here, because the yacht which the lady came here on left to go back to Guadeloupe.”
“I believe that the French authorities need to pick up the captain and the yacht people because she came as a member of a crew. I think that while we are making efforts to search for the young lady here, because it is difficult to search for her because you don’t know the particular areas she entered…and I don’t think we should rule out foul play…”
“I think that this yacht captain who is now in Guadeloupe and I have been told heading out to Europe should be held by the French authorities and to give answers as to where has the crew member gone.”
“But we are collaborating as we have always done on this matter on a daily basis for the last several days with the French authorities and …we do hope and pray that she is safe somewhere and that she could be located whether it is in Dominica or Guadeloupe,” Skerrit told a news conference.
Speaking on the state-owned DBS radio on Monday, Valarie said that police investigations have so far revealed that Hermier, one of the crew members, had indicated an interest in hiking the Waitukubuli National Trail, which winds from Scotts Head in the south to Capuchin in the north.
Many persons have taken to social media expressing concerns for the safety of the woman with some also questioning why she went “out there alone trailing in these mountains”.
The Waitukubuli National Trail winds from Scotts Head in the south to Capuchin in the north of the island.
CMC/
