Tashieka Mair, Star Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:

Seventeen years ago Joyce Wallace sent her youngest daughter to spend a weekend with her father in Mandeville, Manchester. She has not laid eyes on her daughter since.

Amesha Alicia Cole, affectionately called 'Stacy' will celebrate her 20th birthday on December 31, and for the family, it would be a joy if they could see her.

Amesha was 'taken' from her mother in Greenland, Lucea in Hanover when she was three years old.

Nicky Miller, older sister of the missing woman, told The Star that Amesha's father, Lawrence Cole, lived in Mandeville, and died in a car accident three years ago. She says her sister was left in the care of his mother-in-law.

"We know that she's alive because each time we go to her grandfather, he would direct us to where she is but by the time we go to the house them leave with her. I don't know if somebody tell them that we coming," Miller said. "She will be 20 in December and my only wish is that she can celebrate that day with her mother and her family because there has been a really big gap in our family since she left us at age three."

efforts to reunite

Miller said her family has made several trips to Mandeville, made reports to the police and even wrote a letter to the "Family Contact' radio programme in their efforts to reunite with Amesha but to no avail.

"I think that even if the people who have her were trying to keep her away from us, she is an adult now and can think for herself, so we hope she'll be able to see this article and come back to us," Miller added.