Adams safe after harrowing abduction ordeal
Beloved Herbert Morrison Tech principal rescued amid fears
WITHIN TWO hours and 45 minutes of learning that the principal of Herbert Morrison Technical High, Paul Adams, had gone missing in Garlands, St James, eight teams from the security forces were deployed to search the community.
“We are not waiting for 24 hours to start searching for anyone; that’s in the past. If you report your family member missing, the police will immediately chip in,” Senior Superintendent Vernon Ellis, commanding officer in charge of St James, told The Gleaner shortly after Adams was found in an area known as Brothers Retreat on Monday.
Adams disappeared about 7:45 p.m. on Sunday after leaving a bar in Mocho, St James, on his way home from Balaclava in St Elizabeth to Montego Bay. He said he picked up a man and woman about 8:15 p.m., leading to his abduction, beating, and abandonment in Retreat’s farmlands.
His family contacted the police on Monday morning upon realising that he hadn’t returned home and attempts to reach him by phone failed.
“I have been married to my husband for 35 years and he has never not returned a call from me,” his wife, who was part of the large search party combing the territory, told The Gleaner.
Mrs Adams is originally from the area and owns a small farm close to where her husband went missing.
“We got the call sometime after 8 o’clock this morning and everyone from the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) and the JDF (Jamaica Defence Force) with technical skills were deployed here,” said Ellis.
The JDF members took control of the drones used in locating the former Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) president, while other technologies – which Ellis opted not to mention – gave them the advantage of locating and narrowing down a search space.
Technical teams operated behind the scenes, while drone units scouted and investigators canvassed the area, examining Adams’ route and interviewing individuals, revealed the St James
police chief, who was unable to hide his concern for the principal of his alma mater.
Adams himself praised the quick action by the security forces, and stated during an interview with The Gleaner that he was left alive by his attackers because he lives “good” and is kind to those around him.
He said he was not scared either, “because if you scared, you can’t fight. Last night, a suh mi siddung under a tree. I don’t know which part a the gully mi deh.”
According to the principal, his feet were swollen because he ran barefoot on the gravel. He was also groggy during his ordeal.
Adams said he picked up the man and the woman, and it was the pretty girl that made him stop.
“After she do suh (touching his nose) and seh, ‘You have a nice big nose’,” he doesn’t know what happened next.
St James Southern Member of Parliament (MP) Homer Davis, who visited the area, said the popular principal is a household name in the city of Montego Bay, who has made an indelible mark on Herbert Morrison, one of the best secondary schools in the region.
“I am sure the people of western Jamaica will be relieved when they hear that he is alive,” Davis said.
The said that Brothers Retreat is known as a healthy farming community, noting that the people there are hardworking.
“Most of the food we eat from the Charles Gordon Market are grown right here in this community,” he told The Gleaner.
He said the residents were petrified that something like this could happen in their area.
“I am sure the police will get the details from him – how and by reason he found himself in this area,” said Davis.
Anthony Swaby, the People’s National Party’s candidate in the Maroon Town division, who joined a large contingent that combed the area searching for Adams, said they retraced the principal’s steps and asked questions of the residents while trying to find him.
Some 30 members of his team were among the search party.