Kernisha Ettienne, We Won’t Ever Forget
It is important that we illuminate the story of Kernisha Ettienne who suddenly disappeared from the care of a pastor and his wife in the village of Warner.
In the early morning of Wednesday June 8th, 2022, the public was notified that a twelve-year-old girl was allegedly snatched from her adopted father by his mentally ill nephew, Kian Alexander of Belles. This conclusion stemmed from Pastor Laurent Bruno’s testimony of being physically attacked by Joseph that tragic evening, before “making good his escape.”
The Bruno’s live in a small, simple wooden home on an isolated property in Warner, surrounded by vegetation and greenery, connected by a lengthy dirt track which leads to the main road. According to villagers and the married adoptive parents, the family lacked the privileges of certain utilities such as electricity, depriving Kernisha of a childhood that’s deemed normal in this era. Her sudden disappearance brought about confessions from villagers and other local citizens admitting to having been informed by the young girl on her yearning for new adoptive parents. One commentor on Facebook revealed, “I didn’t even know the child and she asked me if I could adopt her please,” and similar sentiments were shared by others who claim to have met her.
On the evening of her ‘abduction’ , her adoptive mother’s account stated that Kernisha joined her and her husband at church on Tuesday, June 7th for prayer and fast. Mrs Bruno informed reporters that about 10:00 p.m. the twelve-year-old expressed that she was hungry, and so without any snack readily available at church, the pastor’s wife drove Kernisha home with her husband who was tasked with the responsibility of sorting her out. His recollection conveys a terrified daughter crying out, “Uncle Kian!” upon her arrival to her bedroom where the alleged abductor seemed to have been waiting on their return. Pastor Bruno reported walking in on Kian holding a cutlas over Kernisha’s head demanding that his uncle allow her to go with him, for unknown reasons. This request, according to Pastor Bruno, was met with a tussle between the two men that resulted in the infliction of cut wounds to his hands and face, rendering the need for hospital admission. He concluded that his nephew immediately fled from the home with the young girl, disappearing in the night.
That night when she arrived at the scene, Mrs. Bruno stated that she had met her blood-drenched husband laying on an emergency stretcher, wrapped in a bed linen, and that was prevented from venturing further onto the property by officials due to investigations. She followed her husband to the hospital then promptly contacted the alleged abductor’s parents to inform them of what he had done. Later, however, Bruno denied the presence of emergency personnel at the scene and that her husband was transported by a neighbor to the Dominica China Friendship Hospital.
It had been confirmed by villagers of Belles and local police that several reports had been made against Kian for his misconduct within the community. The deceased Belles native would often terrorize villagers by motioning his cutlass as if trying to threaten persons, hence nobody questioned the pastor’s claim. Eyewitnesses in the Belles area have relayed their experience with Kian prior to the incident, some claiming to have seen him drinking blood from a dog publicly, then wearing its flesh as a customary coat. He would often walk around the village making his “hunger for blood” verbally known. During an interview on a national radio station, his mother, Mrs. Alexander also revealed that her son had mentioned to her his desire to ”drink her blood,” “to fix” him self but refused to harm his family and would prefer “stay sick forever.” His father, Mr. Alexander also confessed of his attempts to find a cure for his son upon his travel to Haiti where he was advised that Kian “needed to sacrifice his daughter”- a ritual which he refused to part take in. His mother went on to say that her son “needed Kernisha for comfort as she reminds him of his biological daughter in St. Thomas who he had been separated from by her mother (Kian’s legal wife) for some years.”..
Regardless reports issued concerning the little girl’s alleged abduction, it was not until a local social media influencer gathered a troop of citizens and spearheaded a search at Warner, that police grouped to assist them the following day. The afternoon of Wednesday June 8th 2022 was met with a large group of civilians assisting police on the grounds of Warner Village, trodding through acres of forested land, armed with cutlases, dressed in hiking gear, determined to locate Kian and Kernisha.
Vision started gaining clarity when a piece of clothing claimed to be that of Kernisha was discovered by local police and by Friday June 10th, French law enforcement accompanied by ‘sniffer dogs’ arrived on island with the assignment of locating evidence or clues pointing to this mysterious ‘abduction’. Hundreds of police officers and civilians, along with drones led weeks of searching for the little girl, covering the Warner, Layou Park, Springfield, Belles, Syndicate, Sultan and surrounding areas, but to no avail.
Upon my arrival at the grounds of the search, I paid close attention to the conduct of citizens, some who appeared very eager and determined to locate the abducted and the abductor, and others who sat on the side-lines engaging in conversations and indulging in eats and drinks. I happened to maintain proximity with Kernisha’s biological father, Curtis Ettienne, who vaguely expressed, “all the time I was asking for the child, they didn’t give her to me and now look at what happen,” with a face of dismay. A distraught father joined the team in search for his missing daughter, seemingly desperate for her return. Etienne and Kernisha’s mother Sandy Alexi separated after her birth, and unfortunately, Alexis too had mysteriously disappeared in 2012. This was revealed by her mother (Kernisha’s grandmother) in an interview with a national news reporter. During the conversation she repeatedly stated, ‘The curse break!” without transparent disclosure, besides claims of returning to Dominica for her grand daughter “for the holidays”. She continued, “ I could not come up there (the home in Warner) but I there now. When I came I hear what’s going on.” Following Alexis’ disappearance, due to his incapability to provide seamless care to his very young child, Etienne allowed her to be in the care of her grandmother, who later passed Kernisha on to her aunt. The young girl’s guardian eventually fell ill, prompting the option of placing Kernisha for adoption.
On June 9th 2022 while searching for the missing child, Police conveyed their findings of a belt, a slipper, a night gown and a teddy bear, “believed to be that of Kernisha Etienne” in the Warner area. Kian was deemed “armed and dangerous” by Inspector John Carbon, who accredited the villagers’ claims against Kian’s misbehavior, that “he has been terrorizing the community of Belles over the past two weeks.” He remained hopeful, advising locals to continue assist in the search for Kernisha.
Almost two weeks post his alleged escape, while conducting a search for the missing child in the vicinity BrookHill Estate, police spotted Kian Alexander, armed with a 3 ft long cutlas. Acting Chief of Police at the time, Lincoln Corbette revealed that officers had apprehended Alexander, but were attacked with a cutlas. This, he said resulted in platoon subduing him “in the leg”. Alexander unfortunately succumbed to his injuries without revealing the whereabouts of his alleged kidnappee. However, Corbette informed press that the deceased had left information which posed as a lead in the investigations surrounding Kernisha’s disappearance.
In March 2023, the honorable Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced that while the search for Kernisha Ettienne has been discontinued, the police remain steadfast in the investigations, “it is not a file that has been closed at all.” Police confirmed that the family of Kian Alexander have received permission to claim the deceased’s body.
Today marks two years since her disappearance and Dominicans continue to question the mysterious disappearance of Kernisha Ettienne. In an interview with a reporter in honor of her memory, Kernisha’s biological father expressed the urgent need for investigation of his daughter’s adoptive parents. He revealed that sources has informed him of the adoptive father knowing more about Kernisha’s disappearance than he initially disclosed in 2022. Mr Etienne claims that this was according to information from the adoptive mother, who allegedly is no longer affiliated with her husband due to family distress. Police was publicly advised to investigate the matter. Kernisha’s down-heartening story continues to echo in the minds of many, especially parents and children, some of whom are traumatized to this day. Concerns remain grave for the life she once lived, with a highlight on her unfortunate upbringing. Information surfaced after her disappearance insinuated that Kernisha lived an abnormal childhood and that she may have been traumatized from her circumstances. Dominica remembers Kernisha Ettienne, the national missing daughter.
