By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

IT has been three agonising years since Rochellda “Dadah” Woodside vanished without a trace while walking home — three years of waiting, searching, and praying for answers that never came.

Her family says the pain of not knowing what happened has become unbearable, and even if she is no longer alive, they want the chance to give her a proper burial.

Victoria Ferguson, 35, said her sister’s disappearance in August 2022 shattered their family and left behind only grief and questions. “It's like the open wound that won't ever heals,” she told The Tribune yesterday. “We are praying.  We hope that she would return to us alive, and if she is deceased, we would just want her body to (have) a proper burial.”

Ms Woodside was last seen on August 11, 2022. She told her mother she would return home by 6pm, but she never did. Residents said they saw her walking along Lincoln Boulevard towards Washington Street, where she lived, but she never arrived.

Ms Ferguson said someone told their mother they saw Ms Woodside get into a car with a person who offered her a ride. She believes that person was not a stranger and may be responsible for her disappearance.

The family’s frustration has deepened over what they describe as a lack of urgency from the Royal Bahamas Police Force. Ms Ferguson said that, besides issuing a missing flyer, officers made little effort to locate her sister or follow up on possible leads. “They have not been telling us anything,” she said. “When they discover bodies, we would go and inquire if maybe we can identify the body, see if it’s her. They showed no interest. It's just like they didn't care.”

The family has conducted multiple searches over the past three years, combing empty lots, abandoned buildings, and cemeteries after a tip claimed her remains had been left in one. Nothing was found.

Ms Ferguson described her sister as educated, kind, and street-smart — someone who would not have accepted a ride from anyone she did not trust. She said any possible motive could stem from jealousy or a personal dispute involving a friend or ex-boyfriend.

The disappearance is not the family’s first tragedy. In 2017, Ms Woodside’s brother was killed, leaving behind two children who still ask for their missing aunt. “How do we look at innocent children in their faces and tell them auntie is not coming home? We don't know where auntie is?” Ms Ferguson said.

She had been living in the United States at the time but returned to New Providence after her sister went missing. She said Ms Woodside had big dreams; she was planning to open a clothing store and car rental company and was working toward returning to school. “She wanted to go back to school,” she said. “That was one of her next goals that she had, and she was really striving.”

Each year on the anniversary of her disappearance, Ms Ferguson revisits her sister’s belongings, pictures, and memories, trying to keep her spirit close.

Three years later, the family continues to retrace her last steps and call for the police to do more. Despite the silence, they say they will not give up — holding onto faith and hoping one day for closure.