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THls time ofthe year thc Lfcathraking
Scvcn Mile Beech ncrr Ncgril
on-lamaicat south-wcst cdgc rvill bc
fillcd l ith winter-flccing toufists
soaking up thc sun. But thc Lcxch toivn's
famous goldcn sirrr

and linia Grossinger arrived in thc Beaches
resort jn Negril around noon on 1'hursday, 25
May. It is an imprcssive resort dcsigned
exclusivcly for families rrld, to a lcsser extent,
singles. It's a sjstcr to Sand'rls which catcrs fc,t
couples and is located a mile or two rlong thc
3
4
5
the rirport grounds irld to their hotel grounds
,nd vcnture out only on cxpensive organised
rours. fhosc who warrr ro src 'the realJamaica'.
or at letlst see thc island ill grcater depth, should
lrc prep:rred for some hasslc. Should you gol By
nll means, yes. Re pru(lcnt xnd c.rutious, just as
ifyou werc visiting New York, Miami or LA."
In theory, an all-inclusivc rcsort in one ofthe
hetter locations iD Jamaica should have posed
no thr€xt !o a well-trirvcllcd, strcetwise woman
from New York. llrrt it tlid ancl within rwo d.rys
she had v.,rnishcd.
S:rnJrls i' owncJ hy liurch Srewart, thc
richesr rn,lrrgrrbly rhc nrusr influerrri.rl nr:rn in
Jern,ric,r. I Iis chrin ol rll-in..lrisivc f(!L,rts is
worth $250 'nillion:rrd rcgul,rrly srvecps thc
board in travelindusty lvrrds. lts orylnisrtiond
abilities arc awesorne rnd the stlndlrd is very
high. Any conrplaints are mild: as some of the
resorts are for couples only and are often used
for wetidings, they can have a slight Stepford
Wives feel. It crn also feel slightly rvcird to be
confinctl ro r conrpourrrl. though rhcre is i
strong sense of being protectcd.
Most tourists, parriculirly thosc who stry in
rhesc..rll-irrclusive r€sorts, scc 0 version of
Jlmlica thlt is.r f.rlsc paratlisc. Whcn Cl.rudir
arrived in J.rnuicr in rhc su'n,rt€' of 2{XX), [rx
cxrnlfllj, over 570 nlurdcm h.rd.rlrc.rdy bccn
connrittetl on thc island drrrt ycrrr. Whilc nrost
ofthcsc took phce in thc King$l()n rrca, it cun
sccnr sorDetinl€s rs though crime is (,t't (rf
control in Jrtll:ric'r .n(l il's nor uncomtllorr for
soldiers to be dcployed on the streets. \4/hen I
visited in 1999, .r senior tourism insider colfitlcd
hc fully expecterl inrnrinenr social :rntl econorric
breakdown and admitted the police wouldn't
stand a chance in the ensuing .lr.ros. T was giren
a very lasr rour ofsome of rhc rvorst inner-ciry
drug-gang run areas of Kingston where th€
palpuble tension reminded me ofthe dark mood
preceding Northern Irelxndt marching season.
Tir put it rn perspecrivc, guD-crime InJamaica
is proportionarely 50U pcr cent higher than in
d1c States. OneJamaican newspaper said: "Any
country \r'hich is not at war.rnd has no declared
tcrrorist organisation lrrrt which has so rrrany of
its citizens murdered has a nrajor problem.'
Although nrost tourists are protected from
this by staying in all-inclu:iivc rcsorts, Butch
Srewam and othcls are t{' tsom happy with the
ishn

) collcagucs rvcrc still cxpecting her to r*urn to
Ncrv Yr;rk.rt 8.3Opn on'l'hursday, I June,..rs
origin;rlly pl.rnnerl. lVhcn her parents hadn't
herltl anything by the foilorving tlay, they called
hcnrpartrrrent in New Yolk.'l'hcre w:rs no
leplv.'Ihcy then phoned her office but were
told she hrdr'r rrrived for work. They knew
inrnrediate\' sornething wlrs rvrong. They c.rlled
Janrricr rnd spokc to somcone rt a Berchcs
officc iu Montcgcr Ii.ry. FIc suggested th:rt
(ilrudia Iud perh.rps cxtentied her st:ry. I{er
prrrcnts insistccl thrr this wrs norscnse - she'd
h.rvc told rhem ifshe'd rnrtlc such a decisror.
'l hcy kcpt phoning until they wele finrlly
rold ofthe discovery rhrt hcl bed Iudn't been
slept irr antl that hcr belongings were rll int..rct.
Onrinously, the safe-deposit box still held her
plrssport, return tickcc, credit cards.rnd $180
iD c:lsh.
Events then took a more sinisrer turn. A "PR
rlan" whom Mr Kirschhoch spokc to at Negrilt
chimed that Clrrrdia hrd fril€d to rncet']}ni,
when she w.rs dcpalting, descritring this as
"typical bchaviour" since
"ncvcr she showed rrp
for anything rve did for hcr". T he rnan alsr>
chimed he'd seen Clarrdia on the Sunday and
that she'd failed to turn up tbr.r Iifi to the
rirport on Mond;ry.
According to the Kirschhochs, rhe PR manb
claims were nonsense, He'd lost tr.rck of
Claudir :rnd it would later be shown tlrar he was
simply covering himself.
'fhc fa'rily crlled their rcpresenrarives in
14/rshingron for help. Claudia's publishing
conrprny Bor involvcd roo lln rhc lollowing
Wedncsdny flerv her parents to Kingston. A
reward of $25,000 was established, quickly
dorrbled by Stew:rrt and wonlr a hefty two million
JanBicaD dolhrs. Posrers were disrributed to tne
local press and the firlily rnade radio appeds.
Srew.rn provided thern with accommodation and
covered sonre of their erpenses.
Already worried about theJamaic.rn policet
.bility to solve the nrystery they contacred th€
liBL -fhcir congressm:rn threw his weight
trchintl the crse ud ensurcd the FBI were grvrn
icc€ss to thc casc. ByJuly 2000, si-r FBI agents
rvere on rhc islarrd investigaring Claudia's
dislppearlncc.'l'hey turned up vital but rs yet
inconclusive evidcncc which casr rloubt uporr
lhc stalcn€nt ofAnthony Crtlnt, rh€ bartender.
'l'hey :rlso fbund nrconsistencies in rhc evidence
ofothcr pcoplc.
A scnior S.rndals PR rnan told the prcss that
linir Crossinger hacl told hirn in confldence
thrt (llaudia atlnittcd she'd had scx with the
tnrmun aficr the reggac concct.'l'his shockcd
hcr prrents arrd'Iinia, who "vehcmently denics"
evcl urakilg such a st:rtenrelt.
IlLrt Clrudia's morals wcrc srrddcnly in
(tucstion.'l hc Pll. ru.rn's claims, hcr prrents
bclicve, wcrc falrricrtctl so that he wouklnt losc
his job. l)enigr'.rting rhcir darrghrer's chrracter.
rrlso .rllowcd hinr to push hcr ink) the "sex-rnds.,trrrl"
rrtcgoly oftorrrists who hcarl toJunrica
to nrcct l local ur:rn tbr thc night,
Stcwrrr rcprimrnrlerl his st:rfTrnd clrlle(l thc
farnily to apologise. The press picked up on He failed some parts of it buc did reportedly
these r