Manchester woman found dead as police examine suspected murder-suicide

Police are probing the death of 40-year-old Cadisia Mloud of Manchester, whose body was discovered in Pepper, St. Elizabeth, sometime after 9:00 Thursday morning, June 11, 2026. Mloud had been reported missing on Wednesday after she was last seen getting into a red Honda Fit outside her workplace along Caledonia Road in Manchester.

Residents found the body and contacted the police. Investigators said she had multiple injuries to the upper body, including what appeared to be a gunshot wound. The red Honda Fit was later found in Lana, St. Elizabeth.

Police are also looking at whether the case may be a murder-suicide. A man believed to be the main suspect, 50-year-old Maurice Finel of St. James, was found dead earlier Thursday in Standfast, Brownstown, St. Ann. Police believe he died by suicide. Authorities said Finel had been treated as a person of interest in the missing-woman investigation in the Manchester division and was wanted for questioning. Police also reported receiving information that he had been dealing with depression.

The case comes amid renewed concern about violence against women in Jamaica, even as murders have fallen overall. Jamaica recorded 221 homicides in the first five months of 2026, a 23 per cent decline compared with the same period last year.

Joy Crawford, executive director of Eve for Life, said intimate-partner and domestic violence remain a national crisis. She said many women stay silent because of fear, shame, blame from relatives or neighbours, and uncertainty that reporting abuse will lead to real protection.

Crawford said Jamaica needs more shelters, stronger community-level intervention, better support for civil society groups, and firmer enforcement of protective orders. She also urged families and communities to believe girls and women when they say they feel unsafe or have been harmed.