A high-profile missing child case in Tobago has taken a tragic turn, as 24-year-old Shannon Miller, a resident of Goodwood, has been formally charged with the murder of two-year-old Angelo Tobias Plaza, his stepson. Angelo’s body has yet to be recovered, more than six months after he was first reported missing from his home.
The case dates back to the evening of May 11, when two-year-old Angelo vanished from his residence on Cambridge Trace in Goodwood. Local authorities received the missing person report at approximately 7:30 p.m. that same night, launching an extensive multi-agency search effort that drew resources from across the island. Police officers, members of the national Defence Force, and Coast Guard teams led the operation, with critical logistical and on-the-ground support from the Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) and the volunteer Hunters Search and Rescue Team (HSRT). The search spanned land, coastal waters, and airspace surrounding Goodwood and neighboring communities, yielding no clues for the first six days of the operation.
On May 17, investigators received an anonymous tip suggesting the young child’s body had been dumped at the Studley Park landfill in the days after Mother’s Day. Search teams immediately redirected their efforts to the massive waste site, but after days of systematic searching, Angelo still was not located.
After months of ongoing investigation, law enforcement authorities brought Miller in for formal processing last Saturday. The charge came only after investigators held a case review meeting with a specialist legal advisor from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to assess the evidence collected throughout the probe. In an official public statement on the case, police confirmed that a full detailed review of all gathered evidence led to legal guidance confirming there was sufficient proof to move forward with criminal murder charges against Miller.
Miller made his first virtual court appearance on Monday before Scarborough Magistrate’s Court Master Shabanna Shah. During the hearing, the defendant was formally notified of the indictable murder charge against him, but the court did not request him to enter a plea at this early stage of the legal process. The case has been adjourned until November 30, when a preliminary sufficiency hearing will be held to determine if the evidence against Miller meets the legal threshold to proceed to a full trial.