Finding Joan

Here is an email thread I received about a missing girl. A caveat though, I have yet to check on its veracity. I received this mail from someone active in the catholic church here in Singpore that's why I'm taking the plunge anyway and blog about it. Dissemenation of info is the best tool for missing person and in good faith, I hope something good comes out of this.

Here it is:

Pax Christi!

I am Willen Cabanes-Almedilla Sale of Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. Am initiating a cause to find An-An, my dearly missed cousin.

Joan "An-An" Cerona Almedille, a smart young lady, a loving daughter, a good friend and a wonderful cousin, has been missing for three years already. We, her family, are so worried and full of anxiety. But we are not at all hopeless in finding her back? We are not at all hopeless in giving back the long lost happiness of her grieving mother? AND IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU. It's because we know you're willing to be an instrument in the fulfillment of this mission. Please don't fail us. Please don't hesitate to somehow ease the wound in her mother's heart? PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW AFTER READING THIS?

An-An departed for Brunei in December 2000, aiming to help in financing her family's needs, especially the medicines of her father who was then bedridden due to cardiovascular accident, hemiplegia. All she told us was that she was going to be a Cashier in a certain company, the name of which she didn't mention to us. We were somehow able to secure its alleged address:

Miles 2 Jalan Tutong
Badiah Complex
Bandar Seri Begawan
Negara, Brunei Darussalam
2604

Months after she had left, she called up her mother, assuring the latter that she was doing fine in Brunei and telling her to always take good care of her ill father who was then the main reason of her having to work miles away from home. She regularly kept in touch since then. But after some time, her calls became less frequent. And a bit alarming. Her mother got confused and worried because in most instances, An-An always seemed to be in a hurry. Sometimes the line would even be suddenly cut without the two of them having said goodbye. When asked how her life was going on there, she would only tell her mother not to worry as she could handle things well. She never told anything about her work and the actual place she was staying.

Her last call was made in Sabah, Malaysia in March 2001, wherein she told her mother that she was sent for some task by her employer. Since then, she didn't make any communication. She merely vanished. And we could do nothing to stop the stream of tears from her mother's eyes. For how could we comfort our dear Tya Naning when even we are entertaining bad thoughts like An-An might have been maltreated by her employer or a victim of illegal recruitment? That she might now be imprisoned and full of bruises? These things have now become rampant anywhere in the world as often seen on TV and read from the newspapers. If ever this has indeed happened to her, we want her agony to be ended right away.

What made things worse was that An-An's father died on December 31, 2004. How could we greet Tya Naning a Happy New Year then? Burial was on January 6, 2005. And An-An did not even know of her dear father's death. My heart broke when as the coffin was laid down the grave, Tya Naning tightly embraced me with tears welling up her eyes and said, "How do you think is An-An feeling right now?"

The agony of Tya Naning as a searching mother and a lonely widow has now become so intense? Let us help her out please.

Please pass this message to everyone you know. For deep in our hearts we know that somehow this will eventually reach to someone who knows what's happening to An-An, wherever she may be. Thank you for doing your part. Thank you so much for your help.

Sincerely,
Willen
(0918) 530-7225/ (088) 857-2715