Philipsburg:--- The friends, co-workers, and a church team that organized the search for their missing colleague and friend has issued a strong call to the community of St. Maarten to join them in their search mission for Annemarie Lynch (41) who went missing since December 22nd, 2012. Another search will be held on Sunday January 6th, 2013 starting at 1pm. Persons that are interested in joining the search should gather at the Peiking Restaurant in Cole Bay.
A small team of people mostly from the Jamaican community held a search on Saturday January 5th, 2013. The search team gathered at the Le Grand Marche parking lot and from there they were taken by bus to Cupe Coy Beach.
One of the persons on the team told SMN News that they searched Mullet Bay Beach, Cupe Coy Beach, and lastly they went to Cay Bay Beach to search. The woman who has been residing on St. Maarten for a number of years said the small group of people that joined the search combed the areas where they search. She said she was not looking for a body instead she was looking for evidence such as the missing woman's clothing and other items that might help police with their investigation. "In my opinion, the body has decayed so we need to find things that would lead police to where Annmarie Lynch was last seen or taken." Among those searching was the woman's boyfriend whom the co-workers believe is responsible for her disappearance.
The woman who preferred to remain anonymous said she does not know Annmarie Lynch that well. She said she met her once while performing her work. "As a mother and Jamaican when I heard of this search I decided to join the group of people that are making every effort to find the missing woman." She said when they were combing Cay Bay beach she found a black stretch jeans pants resembling the one that Annmarie Lynch wore the night she went missing. Not far away they also saw a location where a fire was lit. The woman said one of the co-workers managed to identify the pants to be of the same size as Annmarie Lynch. The woman said a child found an earring but they dismissed it because the co-workers did not believe their friend and colleague wore that earring on the night she went missing.
The searchers said that they made sure they picked up the pants with a plastic bag and placed it in another plastic bag and turned it over to police. "When the police were notified they came to the scene and they also saw the fire. It appears to us that the person who did something to Annemarie Lynch tried to dispose of her clothing by burning it but the pants apparently fell down and that person did not know that." The woman said when the pants was found the boyfriend was walking alongside the beach and when she saw the pants she called everyone and that is how they managed to identify the pants which they strongly believe belongs to the missing woman.
One of the co-workers said that they want to make clear that Annmarie Lynch did not leave St. Maarten to travel to St. Thomas and the news that is being published that the woman might have fled to St. Thomas is completely false and it is also discouraging other people from joining the search team.
When SMN News asked how much money had caused the feud between her and her boyfriend, the woman said that she believes that Annmarie Lynch was involved in "partner hands" and she probably got the last and first draw shortly before the Christmas holidays. Besides that, she said Annmarie is someone who likes to save her money and while people are saying it is a large sum of money the missing woman had, she believes it to somewhere around three to four thousand dollars. Annmarie Lynch is an employee of Pineapple Pete's Restaurant.