Cedric Mitchell feared murder before Jamaica disappearance

Shane Mitchell, 60, said his brother Cedric called him and told him that if he suddenly died, he wanted his family to know who had killed him.

He named a man who he said had been demanding money and threatening his life.

Cedric was so frightened of the man that he spent some time living in his car rather than his house, said Shane, who lives in Enfield.

“I thought, ‘He’s just talking – they’re not going to do nothing’,” he sighed. “But here I am, talking to some reporter about my brother’s death.

“It’s a very sad situation. It just seems so far-fetched, the way this thing has happened to my brother. It’s very confusing.”

Cedric, 54, disappeared in Jamaica in summer 2023. Relatives say personal effects and a large sum of money were missing from his home, yet police claimed this was not suspicious (Image: Dwile Ricketts)

Cedric, 54, was last seen alive on July 29, 2023, in the parish of St Elizabeth, Jamaica, where he had business interests.

Loved ones never heard from him again, and no body has never been found.

In a series of articles, we have detailed how his sister Maxine, frustrated by Jamaican police’s “lackadaisical” efforts, flew out to investigate for herself, uncovering allegations of blackmail and murder that a police investigation had seemingly failed to identify and explore.

This newspaper was the first UK media outlet to begin reporting on Cedric's disappearance. It has since appeared in the national press as a result.

But the Jamaica Constabulary Force has still never responded to our enquiries about the case.

“She is so brave,” Shane said of Maxine. “Cedric would be proud of her for what she’s done so far.”

A private detective hired by Maxine claims sources have told him Cedric was murdered and dumped in a cesspit.

Cedric's best friend says he heard the suspected killer threatening Cedric and then had his own life threatened by the same man.

Cedric's sister Maxine has flown to Jamaica to investigate her brother's death for herself, saying local police are doing nothing. The Jamaica Constabulary Force has never responded to our press enquiries about the case (Image: Maxine Mitchell)

“It’s a terrible thing,” said Shane. “I’m still trying to get my head around it… These Jamaican police are not doing anything about it.”

Shane and Cedric grew up among a large family in Chalkhill. Cedric attended Preston Manor School.

“He’s my lovely little brother,” Shane said. “He was a lovely baby. I used to love him a lot because I was the oldest. He was like my first baby.

“Even though he grew up and he was a miserable sod, I always loved him. I used to always remind him, ‘Cedric, I used to look after you, so have some manners’, when he was being cheeky.

“He was lovely when he was little. But when he grew up, he was the most miserable man you could have ever met... Just one little thing could set him off and he wouldn’t be talking to you.”

The two brothers were estranged for years over a minor dispute, he said, but reconciled in the lead-up to Cedric’s disappearance.

Cedric's best friend Dwile Ricketts (right) also spoke of Cedric's moody nature. He said the last time he saw Cedric (left), he stormed off because Dwile asked how he had ever got involved with the man who was threatening to kill him (Image: Dwile Ricketts)

“My brother is a very strong-minded person. He’s a Libran. He’s a bit hard-headed. In Jamaica we have a saying - ‘he can’t take telling’,” Shane said.

“You can’t tell him anything. He knows everything. He was a very quiet guy, but if he gets in an argument and feels like he’s in the right and you’re in the wrong, he will not ever chat to you again.

“There was once that I didn’t talk to Cedric, I swear, it was eight years, and it was shocking to me when we did talk. And when we did talk, it was all problems.”

By then, Cedric – who had studied architecture at university – had become a property developer and landlord in Jamaica, after first visiting the island with a family friend.

Shane said his brother was a serious man who worked extremely hard, channelling all his time and energy into making money and building a nice home for himself. 

“I was video calling him one time and said, ‘Let me see your yard’. He walked around his property. It was beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous,” Shane recalled.

“I was saying, my little brother is like a man. He’s doing better than me and I’m the older one. He should hold up his head. He’s done a lot in his life and I’m really proud of him.”

At the time of his death, Cedric was splitting his time between the UK, the USA and Jamaica. He flew from America to Jamaica in mid-July 2023. There is no record of him ever leaving again (Image: Mitchell family)

But their conversations took a dark turn when Cedric told Shane that a man was threatening him over a dispute, demanding money.

“Him and this man kept kicking off. There was one stage when this man threatened that he was going to kill my brother,” Shane alleged.

“He would go to the house – ‘Where’s my money?’ There was a stage where Cedric actually lived outside his house, inside his car, because things were getting so messed up.”

During one call, Shane alleged, Cedric said: “Let me tell you something. If anything happens to me…”

“I said, ‘What do you mean now, Cedric’? He said, ‘If I die any time soon, it’s because…’.”

This paper cannot legally repeat the defamatory assertions Cedric made – but he named individuals he believed might murder him and outlined the basis for his suspicions.

“I said, ‘Oh man, Cedric, what are you saying to me?’ He got me all worried,” Shane recalled.

Cedric Mitchell grew up in Chalkhill, Wembley, and attended Preston Manor School. He studied architecture at university and later became a property developer and landlord in Jamaica (Image: Mitchell family)

He was left “praying” for his younger brother, he said – but over the following months, things calmed down and “seemed hunky-dory.”

But then Cedric disappeared. He travelled from the USA to Jamaica in mid-July 2023. There is no record of him ever leaving again.

His WhatsApp account, which he used obsessively, was never accessed after July 29, 2023.

Relatives say his money, personal documents and electronics disappeared from his home. His car key was also missing, yet his car remained in his garage.

According to Cedric’s family, police failed to conduct any forensic tests at his home, made offensive and dismissive comments about the case, carried out no meaningful searches for Cedric's body and appeared to be aiding potential suspects instead of investigating them.

Private investigator Robert Finzi-Smith claims sources in St Elizabeth have told him who murdered Cedric, how it happened and where his body was hidden – but so far, police have not acted on his intelligence.

Cedric's sister Maxine hired private investigator Robert Finzi-Smith. He claims sources have told him who killed Cedric and how, as well as where police should look for a body. But so far, the authorities have not done so (Image: Robert Finzi-Smith)

Catch up on our exclusive investigation into Cedric Mitchell's disappearance:

• Sister: 'I know my brother has been murdered, but Jamaican police are doing nothing'
• 'I know who murdered my best friend, because he tried to murder me next'
• Private Eye: 'I know how Cedric Mitchell was murdered and where to look for his body'

Shane, 60, suffered an aneurysm around three years ago. He had to undergo brain surgery and was left unable to work. He can’t afford to fly out to Jamaica and support Maxine’s fight for the truth. He asked for his own face not to be published alongside our reporting.

He fears the stress and heartache caused by Cedric’s unsolved disappearance is worsening his own health.

“They say it could come back,” he said of his aneurysm. “I get stressed and think, ‘Oh s***, I’m going to die now’.”

Shane said Cedric’s disappearance a year ago had changed his life.

“I have friends and I go to their homes and they watch crime shows for hours about this one murdered that one, and it reminds me of my brother. It really stresses me out,” he said.

“I can’t sit and listen to it – people’s unnecessary reasons for killing people. Unfortunately, they’ve gone and done that to my brother. And he didn’t deserve it. He didn’t.”

“I know he’s miserable,” he chuckled. “But he’s just that guy. He became quite a moody person. His frown is awful. I’m 60 and I can’t frown like my brother. He’s the baby of the family and he looks older than me.”

He sighed: “I just wish I could have helped him… I’m still asking the universe because it would just be so wonderful if one day, Cedric just pops up. I would love that. But I don’t think that’s going to happen.”