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Three Thanksgivings later, Queens mom seeks justice for daughter slain on island getaway

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Andrea Gibbon at home on the three year anniversary of the murder of her daughter Desiree Hyacinth Gibbon, November 23, 2020 in Queens, New York. Desi, a beautiful bi-racial NYC model, was 26-years-old when her throat was slit in Montego Bay, Jamaica, where she was staying for three weeks at The Gibbs Chateau, a small resort owned by her grandmother. After eating Thanksgiving dinner with her relatives at the chateau, she walked outside wearing shorts and hot pink flips carrying only her iPhone and room key. She told the security guard on duty that sheÕd be right back, walked to the left and out of view of the resortÕs security cameras and was never seen again. Her body was discovered two days later left on the side of the road.The homicide remains unsolved. DNA evidence of two suspects, one male, one female, was found on her body during an autopsy but it doesnÕt match any of the suspects that were questioned. Her family seeks justice and is frustrated that the American Embassy told them the United States cannot investigate crimes in a foreign country without being asked for their assistance by that country. (Photo by Debbie Egan-Chin)

For most New Yorkers, Thanksgiving is about gathering around the family dinner table for fun and good food. But for Queens’ Andrea Cali-Gibbon, Thanksgiving is a never-ending nightmare. 

Three years ago, her daughter, Desiree Gibbon, 26, disappeared while on vacation in Jamaica. Desiree’s body was found on Thanksgiving Day 2017 in the heavy brush adjoining an overgrown local roadway in Montego Bay, Jamaica, her throat slit ear to ear.

Three years later, her killer has yet to be found.

The murder of this Hollis, Queens aspiring model was never solved three years after her death, leaving her mother with many questions and no answers. In that time, DNA analysis, forensic evidence and video surveillance from nearby homes revealed few clues toward an arrest.

She wanted to be there,” the mother said. “She was Jamaican. She had been there many times. Maybe seven or eight times … with her siblings, and many of her friends.”

Desiree arrived in Jamaica on Oct. 20 and planned to return home four days after her body was found. Known as Desi to family and friends, she was staying at her grandmother’s hotel, considered off the beaten path and away from “touristy areas.”

“She was an adventurous girl – she traveled the world,” said Cali-Gibbon.  “She wanted to learn about every religion, every culture.”

Cali-Gibbon continues to fight for information on her daughter’s murder, with no leads forthcoming from local detectives. When she appealed to the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica, staff members told her they don’t investigate murder cases in other countries unless requested by that foreign police agency.

“I last spoke to her three years ago today and it is an unsolved murder,” Cali-Gibbon said. “We still have no answers and we are pleading to the American people, U.S. Embassy, for any help we can possibly get. Police went to the hotel in Montego Bay and they returned a flipflop that she was wearing that day as evidence.”

Her mother talked about Desiree’s life, being born half-Black and half-white, she said Desiree was comfortable in every walk of life.

“She fought against racism one of big things in life to fight for,” she said. “I’m sending an email to the prime minister of Jamaica, begging for his help to identify those responsible for Desiree’s murder. I’m trying to write a law that would assist any American citizen’s family who has someone who is killed abroad.”

“I know there are people in Montego Bay that know what happened to Desiree –  I just ask that you please speak up,” she sighed.

Andrea Gibbon at home with her late daughter's, Desiree Hyacinth Gibbon, necklace and cremains on the three year anniversary of her unsolved murder, Nov. 23, 2020 in Queens, New York
Andrea Gibbon at home with her late daughter’s, Desiree Hyacinth Gibbon, necklace and cremains on the three year anniversary of her unsolved murder, Nov. 23, 2020 in Queens, New York. (Photo by Debbie Egan-Chin)

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