A ST LUCY FAMILY is breathing a lot easier after the safe return of 13-year-old Raheem Akiel Hinds, who had been reported missing on Friday.
The teenager returned home to the village of Mount Gay just before 1 a.m. yesterday, after staying at a friend in Christ Church. According to a police report, he was last seen on Friday around 6 p.m.
When the SUNDAY SUN visited the family yesterday, Raheem was sitting in a dining area amongst several family members who said they were overjoyed and relieved.
His father, Deon Hinds, exchanged caring glances with Raheem as he spoke.
“He’s not the real rebel type,” Deon said, noting that his son had been experiencing a lot of stress.
“He was going through a lot at school. He felt like he was getting pressured from certain teachers . . . [and] children wanted to pick on him,” he explained.
Raheem’s grandmother, who didn’t want to give her name, said the family and members of the Alexandra New Testament Church of God were offering him love and support.
“I’m seeing a counsellor with him…And besides my pastor, [there are] other people you can count on to pray with him.
“Sometimes we look at a situation from the outside but some things can be spiritually deep. [If] we try to treat spiritually deep things with natural things, they do not work.
“We are giving thanks to God and all he has done,” she said. (LT)