Despite False Rumors, VIPD Continue Search for Missing Seara James

Seara Samantha James

Despite numerous false rumors, Seara Samantha James has not been spotted on Tortola, or anywhere.

Family members and friends have not seen or heard from 21-year-old James since Tuesday, October 11. A wide-spread rumor last week had the St. Lucian native, who has called St. John home for five years, spotted on Tortola, which is not true.

“She was not reported on Tortola,” said Victoria James, who has not eaten or slept well since her daughter disappeared almost a month ago. “Police were saying maybe she could be there and people should look out for her, but no one has confirmed seeing Seara. The only reports of sightings were anonymous calls to a radio station and they didn’t say where that was.”

James is asking the St. John community and the larger Virgin Islands community to keep up the search for her daughter. Anyone who has seen or heard anything about the whereabouts of Seara James is asked to call Crime Stoppers USVI at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

James is also asking the community to come out to the Frank Powell Park in Cruz Bay on Tuesday night, November 8, at 6 p.m. for a candle light vigil in honor of her daughter and to hear the truth about the search, which continues.

“Please don’t believe all the rumors,” said James. “We are still looking for her. This is just not like her.”

Seara James lived with her mother, brother and step-father in Estate Bethany. She is 5’5” tall, weighs 140 pounds, has brown eyes, black hair and is of medium build. Seara James also has several tattoos, a tribal pattern on her right arm, “Pascal” on her back and a rose on her left leg.

When she was last seen at Castaways Bar in Cruz Bay shortly after 7 p.m. on October 11, Seara James was wearing a white T-shirt over a black tank top and black jeans and was carrying a black bag containing a binder from her employer Global Marine.

“There was nothing unusual about Seara that Tuesday,” said her mother. “She worked that day and she left around 5 p.m. and her boss said there was nothing unusual there.”

After finishing work at the Global Marine office across from the Cruz Bay standpipe in Estate Enighed, Seara James met up with several friends in the area of Mongoose Junction, according to her mother.

“After work, she met up with some friends and went to Mongoose and then went to Castaways,” said James. “She had on her white work shirt and she removed it when she reached Castaways and had a black tank top on underneath. She didn’t want her work shirt to get dirty.”

“She left Castaways with her friends and she was wearing her black top,” James said. “They left minutes after 7 p.m. and everyone went their own way. She was going to walk home to our house up Jacob’s Ladder in Estate Bethany.”

Outside Castaways in Cruz Bay was the last time Seara James’ friends saw her, although she did contact her boyfriend to tell him that she was on her way home, Victoria James explained.

“She called her boyfriend and said she was down by Westin and would be home in a minute,” said James.
Seara James never made it home. Victoria James got a phone call from her daughter’s boyfriend on Wednesday morning, October 12.

“On Wednesday morning her boyfriend called me and asked if my daughter was home and if she was sick,” said Victoria James. “I said, ‘She should be in her room,’ and he asked me to take a look. I went and took my key and opened the door and she was not there.”

Seara James always kept her bedroom door locked, but both she and her mother had a key. At that point, Victoria James was not yet worried about her daughter.

“My first thought was that she slept at a friend’s house; I wasn’t worried yet then,” she said. “When it was 9 a.m. I called work to see if she was there and they said she hadn’t come in as yet. It was not like her to miss work, but I didn’t think anything was wrong.”

“At 10 a.m. I called work again and she still wasn’t there,” said Victoria James. “I tried calling her cell phone and it just rang and then went to voice mail. I tried her cell phone again and again and went down to Cruz Bay to look around for her.”

“I thought I would see her somewhere in town,” said Victoria James.

By Thursday morning, October 13, Victoria James knew something was not right.

“It was Thursday morning and she still hadn’t called,” she said. “It’s not her habit to not go to work and not come home.”

Victoria James reported her daughter missing to V.I. Police Department officials on Thursday, October 13, less than two days after she had last been seen. Now almost one month has passed since Victoria James has heard anything from her daughter, or any confirmed reports of her whereabouts.

“It’s awful,” she said. “I haven’t been able to eat or sleep or drink or do anything.”

Anyone with any information about Seara James should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477)  and be sure to attend the candle light vigil on November 8 at 6 p.m. at Frank Powell Park.