As the widespread search for a missing 16-year-old Portsmouth teenager enters its second week, top Dominican security officials are sounding an urgent alarm over harmful misinformation spreading on social media that is derailing official investigation efforts. Minister for National Security Rayburn Blackmoore has issued a public appeal calling on social media users and community members to halt the circulation of unvetted, false information related to the disappearance of Jerbiah Kaysia Paul, who has been missing for more than a week.
Paul was last seen leaving her family home in Portsmouth at approximately 8:30 p.m. local time on Friday, July 24, 2026, and has not had any contact with her loved ones since that evening. In an official public statement addressing the case, Blackmoore confirmed that the Ministry of National Security has mobilized full resources to support local law enforcement, with the core priority of locating the missing teen safely and returning her to her family.
Against the backdrop of growing public concern over the case, Blackmoore emphasized that unfounded claims and unconfirmed details circulating across social platforms are actively damaging the investigation. He went further to note that some of the false content being shared appears to be a deliberate effort to slow down and obstruct police work, complicating what is already a sensitive, complex missing person case.
“Every report of a missing person is peculiar. We have peculiar circumstances in every report of a missing person, and those circumstances will inform the methodology of the investigation,” Blackmoore explained in his address. While urging anyone with credible, first-hand information about Paul’s whereabouts to contact law enforcement immediately to aid the search, he doubled down on his warning to social media users, stressing that bogus information undermines every step of the investigation.
The missing teen’s mother, Jacinta Paul, recently shared an emotional public video appeal as the search entered its ninth consecutive day. Opening her statement by thanking the hundreds of community members, volunteers, and officials who have supported search efforts over the past week, she asked anyone who knows anything about her daughter’s disappearance to step forward with information.
“Today marks nine days since she’s gone missing,” Jacinta Paul said. “I just want to reach out and tell the people who have been searching, contributing and praying that we are thankful. We are grateful for your prayers, your contribution, your visits and your check-ups. I am very thankful for this.”
Dominican police have released a basic physical description of Jerbiah Kaysia Paul to help the public identify her: she stands roughly 5 feet 3 inches tall, has brown skin, and was last seen wearing a blue blouse when she left her home on July 24.