Nearly three years after 8-year-old Kernisha Etienne vanished in Dominica, National Security and Legal Affairs Minister Rayburn Blackmoore has moved to clear up widespread public confusion around the cold case, addressing growing comparisons to the recently concluded investigation into the suspected murder of 16-year-old Jerbia Paul.
Speaking at a press briefing held Thursday at the Roseau Police Headquarters, Blackmoore emphasized that the probe into Kernisha’s disappearance remains an active, open file — despite the years that have passed and the fact that her remains have never been officially located.
Kernisha was first reported missing on June 7, 2022, after a violent incident in the community of Warner. Case details released by investigators lay out a harrowing sequence of events: then 31-year-old Kian Alexander allegedly broke into the home of his uncle, Laurent Joseph Bruno, attacked Bruno with a cutlass, and abducted Bruno’s adopted daughter Kernisha before fleeing into dense, nearby bushland.
In the immediate aftermath of the abduction, then Police Commissioner Daniel Carbon — whom Blackmoore praised as an exceptionally skilled law enforcement investigator — compiled a full situation report for the minister. Blackmoore shared that Carbon’s professional assessment concluded Kernisha’s body had likely been disposed of and buried in an unmarked, undisclosed location.
During the initial large-scale search operation, investigators did follow up on a promising tip, but it was ultimately confirmed to be a deliberate attempt to misdirect law enforcement. Even so, the search effort was not entirely fruitless: teams recovered children’s clothing linked to the case during the search.
Blackmoore explained that the structural challenges of Kernisha’s investigation set it apart from the more recent probe into Jerbia Paul’s death. Most notably, investigators never got the chance to track, apprehend, and interrogate the prime suspect in Kernisha’s case: Alexander was fatally shot by a member of the search team during the initial manhunt, cutting off the most direct source of information about the child’s fate.
Despite the significant obstacles and the passage of time, Blackmoore offered a formal assurance to the public and Kernisha’s grieving family that the case will not be written off. Any new, credible tip or piece of evidence will immediately prompt the Criminal Investigation Department and other specialized police units to relaunch search and investigative efforts, he said, with the ultimate goal of delivering long-awaited answers to the child’s family.