The whereabouts of the world’s oldest woman, 117-year-old Violet Moss Browne, remains a mystery after she was reportedly moved from her home by relatives as a family feud boils over her care and treatment.
According to relatives who care for Browne at her Duanvale, Trelawny home, she was supposed to be taken to hospital for a medical appointment on Saturday but has not been seen since.
Relative refused to bring her back home
Christo Davis, Moss Brown’s grandson, told the Jamaica Gleaner that a woman he identified as Karen Samuel took the matriarch last weekend but has refused to return her to her home.
“Karen Samuels told me she was instructed by Barry Russell (Moss Brown’s son) to take her to the hospital to get her hydrated,” he said. “She (Samuels) did not take her back, and we, who have been here with her all these years, have no idea where she is now.”
Samuels subsequently confirmed that she was instructed by Russell to remove Brown from her home and not to reveal her whereabouts to anyone.
Not pleased with treatment
Russell, who lives in Miami, later told the newspaper that he was not pleased with the treatment his mother was receiving at home and he accused her grandchildren, with whom she lived, of being greedy and uncaring.
She is alive and well
“I made the decision to move my mother because her greedy grandchildren were not taking good care of her,” said Russell. “I am not going to reveal her whereabouts to them . . . . She is alive and well.”
However, granddaughter Lelieth Palmer, the daughter of Moss Brown’s son, Harland Fairweather, who was the world’s oldest person with a living parent prior to his death earlier this year, told the Jamaica Gleaner that since her father died, there had been a family dispute as to who should care for Moss Brown.
“She was removed because of this dispute,” Palmer said.
The decision to remove Moss Brown from her Duanvale home has also not gone down well with other members of the community and her church family, who view her as a community icon.
The Jamaican supercentenarian, shot to fame earlier this year after her status as the world’s oldest person came to light. She has since received many courtesy calls including from the country’s Governor General, Patrick Allen, Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Opposition Leader peter Phillips.
She is also due to be visited by representatives of the Guinness Book of World Records.
