Kerry's family appeal to Arabs and Indians

Relatives of the missing Kerry Winter plan to appeal to the Arab and Indian communities in Dubai.

Volunteers spreading awareness about Kerry Winter gathered at Mall of the Emirates in Dubai on Friday morning.

DUBAI // Relatives of Kerry Winter plan to appeal to the Arab and Indian communities in Dubai for any information about the missing South African woman. They fear their requests for information since she vanished more than two weeks ago, which have largely been in English, may have gone unnoticed by non-English speakers with vital information because Dubai's Arabic and Indian press have written little about the case. The search will now focus on the Al Karama, Al Quoz and Al Barsha districts where Ms Winter's relatives believe people may be unaware of her disappearance. "We will focus extensively on the Arabic- and Indian-speaking communities because we haven't seen any coverage in the non-English media here," said Kurt Winter, the brother of the 35-year-old events organiser from Durban, who is marking his third week in Dubai since flying in to try to help find his sister. He believes raising awareness in densely populated areas could be the key to the search. "Once we get the word out in those communities then it is only a matter of time." Mr Winter said he was alarmed by the number of Arabic- and Indian-speaking people who did not know of his sister's disappearance, and said the Arabic and Asian press were "failing to report the story". "It's clear that they haven't covered the story, and God only knows why, but we will have to take the initiative again and target those communities," said Mr Winter. The family plans to translate its "Help us find Kerry" flyers, posters and T-shirts into three languages before engaging the communities. "We are in the process of getting our material translated into Arabic, Urdu and Hindi but all this costs a lot of money," said Mr Winter. The Al Barsha and Al Quoz districts include most of Dubai's labour camps. Al Karama is home to many low- and middle-income families of Arab and South Asian descent. So far family members have financed the campaign from their own pockets and occasional contributions from well-wishers. "We have paid for everything ourselves but the people in Dubai have put us up and helped us tremendously," said Mr Winter. Almost 80 residents from Dubai attended a rooftop gathering at the Mall of the Emirates, but a planned search was not staged after advice from police. Ms Winter was last seen on Aug 20 being beaten by a man and bundled into her car outside her home in Al Barsha. Her ex-boyfriend, a 42-year-old British businessman, is being detained at Bur Dubai police station, but has yet to be charged with a crime. Ms Winter, who moved to Dubai from Johannesburg seven years ago, has not been seen since. Her car was found abandoned on Monday night in the Marina area. The detained Briton told police and Ms Winter's family she was alive and well when he left her on Aug 20. He is believed to have flown to the UK two days after Ms Winter's disappearance and returned to Dubai three days later. He was arrested upon his arrival. A spokesman for the South African consulate expressed concern yesterday that the case had gone on this long without "any positive results". [e-mail]