By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS 

Tribune Staff Reporter 

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

THE murder of a missing schoolgirl broke hearts and stirred outrage yesterday after her body was found in bushes near Faith Avenue South.

Adriel Moxey, 12, a seventh-grade student at Anatol Rodgers High School, was last seen on Monday afternoon leaving school. Her disappearance led to the issuance of a MARCO alert yesterday, one of several alerts police released for missing children.

Just hours before the tragic discovery of her daughter, Adriel’s mother, Sasha Moxey, pleaded for her daughter’s safe return.

She said the girl was an active student involved in numerous extracurricular activities and was expected to return home by 6.30pm on Monday at the latest. 

“The person who has her listening to this right now, please send my daughter home. Please send my daughter home,” she said in an interview with Eyewitness News.

A missing person flyer for Adriel flooded social media before her discovery.

At the murder scene yesterday, Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander, visibly shaken, vowed that police would leave “no stone unturned” in their investigation.

He said three drones, two K9 units, and a team of officers helped police discover Adriel’s lifeless body yesterday afternoon.

“They discovered a young girl who was lifeless, lying on her back with just a top one,” he said. “On further examination of the body, it was discovered that a piece of cloth was tightly tied around the neck.

“EMS came and confirmed that the young child was dead. We believe, based on description, that this is the same young girl who was reported missing at the Carmichael Road station, but we will confirm that during an identification tomorrow at the morgue.”

Commissioner Fernander said he believed the child had been in the bushes for several hours, possibly up to 24 hours, before she was discovered. The area where her body was found is a regular route she took to get home, he said.

He said police are following a potential lead on the perpetrator, noting that the suspect is likely to have known Adriel. While he could not con- firm if Adriel had been assaulted, he said this would be a key line of inquiry.

In response to questions about the timing of the MARCO alert, Mr Fernander defended the decision.

“There’s still no delay with respect to that,” he said. “Officers were on the ground based on the intel, as I’m telling you now — the intel that they receive while doing inquiries in this area.”

He urged anyone with information to come forward.

“This is one of our little darlings. This is one of our little darlings who has not lived yet,” COP Fernander said.

“That individual who is responsible should not spend another hour out there. I have directed an operation team, along with the investigators, to team up.

“We have been talking to a few persons within the general area who is offering some information, and I want us to move quickly to follow that information and we believe that we are on the right track based on the information that we are receiving at this time. We will not leave no stone unturned, until we find this individual. I take this one personally.”

Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis expressed his sorrow in a statement, saying: “We are united in our prayers to God, that he may strengthen her family and loved ones, so that they may endure their heartbreak. We are going to turn this country upside down to find the criminal who did this and bring him to justice.”

Minister of Education Glenys Hanna-Martin also issued a statement: “Today’s news of the tragic death of a child is every parent’s nightmare. We send our prayers to the child’s family, school and classmates and to our country at large. This tragedy is an outrage of the worst kind and is felt by the entire nation We pray that the perpetrator is swiftly brought to justice.”

Social media erupted in flames over Adriel’s tragic death yesterday, the 110th murder for the year, with users demanding justice.

Yesterday, MARCO alerts were issued for 16-year-old Kayvano Ferguson of Eight St, Coconut Grove, who was last seen on Thursday, November 7; and ten-year-old Evan Olisma, of Carmichael Road, who was last seen on Monday, November 20, at Gerald Cash Primary School.