‘Help us find Donna-Lee’ - Family craves public support to locate former ‘876 Roommates’ host

Donna-Lee Donaldson's family members are going through one of their darkest hours. The former host of reality TV show 876 Roommates has been missing since July 11, the day after she celebrated her 24th birthday.

In addition to the agony of being unable to locate Donaldson, her siblings say that the situation has been having a tremendous negative effect on their mother, Sophia Lugg, who is gravely ill. Stung by the double whammy, two of Donaldson's siblings, Alexander Campbell and Sashoy White, yesterday led a peaceful protest in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, calling for the safe return of the social media influencer.

"Our mother is very sick and is dying. She is dying as we speak, and this morning (yesterday) my mother coughed up blood. My sister is a very caring person and she is the one who usually accompanies my mom to the hospital," Campbell said as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Jamaica, how can a mother cope with all of this?" he questioned. "Donna-Lee is her best friend, not just her daughter. She is very distressed and is getting worse as the days pass. Jamaica, please have some empathy on our mother," he pleaded.

The police, through its Corporate Communications Unit (CCU), said that a high-level police probe has been launched into Donaldson's disappearance.

A policeman is said to be among the last persons with whom Donaldson was seen before her disappearance. As a result of this, the CCU said, a senior officer from the St Andrew Central Division has been assigned to lead the investigation. Members of the Communication Forensic and Cybercrime Division and Scenes of Crime investigators are also involved in the missing person probe.

Head of the St Andrew Central Police Division, Senior Superintendent Marlon Nesbeth, says he and his team are working hard to try and locate the missing woman.

"One thing for sure is that every single thing from the investigative perspective is being carried through. We have covered all the bases and doing all we need to do. We are doing everything we can to find the girl," he said.

Concerned family members, however, do not believe the cops are doing enough to secure the safe return of the popular personality. Up to press time yesterday, they said they had not received an update from the police. Campbell said that his sister is a loving and jovial woman and called on Jamaicans to help his family to locate her.

"We want her case to be out there, so I am asking you please to share and repost her and spread the news," he said.

His sister, White, who also fought hard to hold back the tears, said Donaldson would have been at the forefront of the search if someone else were missing.

"She is very kind and she is the only sister. I don't eat from Wednesday. Yuh see my lips how they are stripping because I haven't eaten or drink? I can't sleep and I don't even go to work because I can't focus," she said.

"Every time I see my mother break down, I break down too. I should be one who is strong for her but I can't. We need something to be done," she added.