00:00A collaborative effort on day two as the search for two-year-old Angello Tobias Plaza intensified with the assistance
00:08of land and coastline searches.
00:11This was confirmed by Acting Assistant Superintendent of Police Mahalia Bakas as she spoke to the media.
00:18We understand the pain of the parents not seeing the child as he was reported missing and also the sighting
00:24of a body in the water yesterday.
00:25But the police, we made a decision along with the other state agencies.
00:30We had a discussion and a briefing this morning.
00:33So we are extending the search a little bit more within the land space.
00:37Officer Bakas told the TV6 News the police would ensure a thorough investigation is conducted in the matter.
00:44To also ensure that everybody did wash up, it's not somewhere on the land and also the other areas where
00:52we have bushes and foliage in the back of us here.
00:54Where the house is, so we're just doing a more thorough search within that space to see if we could
01:01find anything that might bring some closure to this matter.
01:05Divers were on standby to assist on Wednesday, but due to rough seas and large deposits of the sargassum seaweed,
01:12that was not possible.
01:14We also have the divers who are here with us this morning who would also make another attempt to get
01:19into the water.
01:20As you can see, the sargassum is a bit more thick this morning out there, so it would make the
01:27vision underneath the water a bit more challenging for them as well.
01:32And the roughness of the water has not changed much from yesterday.
01:35So I don't know how much we could get done, but all the bodies that are concerned and who can
01:44assist are here, and we are doing as much as we can to ensure that we bring some closure to
01:49this situation.
01:50Officer Bakas said the guardians of the child were questioned in the matter.
01:54Well, persons in terms of the persons, the informants, who would have made the report to us, and they would
02:00have done surrounding checks because they are neighbors, the other persons are wrong.
02:04So we're also asking members of the public if they would have seen or heard anything that could assist us,
02:09that they could also bring the information to us.
02:11We have the Crime Stoppers number that you could call, 2-1-1, you could call 9-9-9, and
02:18you could pass the information to the police that might be helpful.
02:21Anyone who might have cited the child, otherwise, prior to the happening of this event, you know, that you could
02:27give us any information, we would be grateful.
02:30Members of the police, defense force, Coast Guard, Fire Service, the Tobago Emergency Management Agency, TEMA, CERT,
02:37are involved in the search for the missing 2-year-old.
02:41Police reports are that around 7.30 p.m. on Monday, 22-year-old Khalifa Tobias of Goodwood Main Road
02:49was at home with her common-law husband, Shannon Miller,
02:53when checks were made for her son, Angelo Tobias Plaza.
02:57The child was subsequently discovered missing.
03:00The mother, along with Miller, conducted searches in the surrounding area
03:04and made inquiries with nearby residents.
03:08However, all attempts to locate the child proved unsuccessful.
03:12At one point, officers observed what appeared to be the body of the toddler in the waters off Goodwood Bay.
03:19However, it later disappeared beneath the surface.
03:23Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
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