Friday, September 13, 2024

4 THE WEEKEND STAR NEWS • September 13 - 15, 2024 @JamaicaStar www.facebook.com/JamaicaStar • www.jamaica-star.com ROCHELLE CLAYTON Staff Reporter T heir mother, Lorna Darling, gave birth to girl triplets in August of 1981, however, Marcia and Marsha Ricketts were raised as twins. Growing up, the pair were told that the third baby girl, whose name was expected to be Novelette, was presumed dead, but their mother had never believed that story. Darling was reportedly 21 years old when she had the triplets. She was already a mother to one-year-old Latoya Ricketts and was eager to welcome her baby girls to the growing family. Darling died in 2020, and the sis- ters, including Latoya, have made it their sole mission to locate their “long-lost sister”. They are hoping to meet and build a relationship with their “missing sister” just like their mother had dreamed. Though Marcia now lives overseas, she has been utilising the social media plat- form TikTok to garner attention and public interest, in hope that it will aid in locating her sister. “We were born at the Cornwall Regional Hospital…to Lorna Darling and Ferdinald Ricketts. We were born premature and because we were born of that, we had to stay in the hospital for some time while my mother was discharged. I don’t re- member if she said that it was about a month, but while going back and forth, they told her that one of the babies died,” Marsha explained “She said that she told them she wanted to see the baby and they said that they already burned the body. So she said that she asked how could they burn the body and we have not identified or seen an- ything, but nothing came of that,” she bemoaned. The girls grew up in Hopewell, Hanover, and attended the Merlene Ottey High School in the parish. Marsha told THE WEEKEND STAR that she vividly remembers visiting different areas in search of her sister. “Growing up, we have always heard the story. If she [Darling] heard about anybody looking like us at a particular school, she would take us to the school to look around and talk to the principal, but there was never really anything coming out of that.” Marcia also shared that she too has gone searching for her sister in Catherine Hall, St James. She ex- plained that multiple people have told her that a woman living in the community looks like the pair. She also told THE WEEKEND STAR that meeting her sister would be a dream come true. “It is very important because grow- ing up, it is something that I have always dreamt of and I would really like to meet her one day to say that this is my sister. I just want to say that this is my long-lost sister,” said Marcia, who joined her sister via WhatsApp video chat. She added that her decision to bring attention to her search has garnered some level of attention, however, it has not borne fruit as yet. “One person reached out to me and said that she knows someone who works at the airport who looks like me, and she gave me a con- tact, but the person has not reached out back to me. Other persons say that they saw someone who works somewhere else, but nothing con- crete as yet,” said Marcia. “I just want to meet her and know that she exists. If she does not want to have a relationship, at least I’ll meet her for once and say that this is my sister,” she added. Latoya, too, is hopeful that their family will finally be completed. “Growing up and hearing about the missing child, I am just curious to meet her one day. I have always thought that one day we will all meet so it’s really important to find her,” Latoya stressed. In the meantime, Marsha told THE WEEKEND STAR that the closest they had got to locating their “miss- ing sister” was when a colleague posted a photograph of a woman wishing her a happy birthday. Marsha said that it was also their birthday and the mystery woman shares a resemblance, however, they learned that she was reportedly born two years after the triplets. Triplet mystery Sisters hunt for missing sibling they believe was stolen at birth Marsha (left) and Marcia Ricketts C ontributed Marcia and Marsha’s parents, Lorna Darling and Ferdinald Ricketts. C ontributed