When Maurine Haynes-Taylor sent her 21-year-old daughter to a nearby mall in Portmore, St Catherine on Tuesday, she expected her to return home with a few groceries, proof that her insurance had been paid and two patties.

Instead, hours later, she was racing to meet police officers in St Andrew, clinging to the hope that her child was alive.

By the end of the day, that hope had been shattered.