MONTEGO BAY, St James - Omar Reid, the man who was arrested and charged with the death of 61-year-old retired British nurse Barbara Jones-Scott, was yesterday remanded in police custody when he made his first appearance in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court.

The tall, slim-built Reid, who sported a shaved head and who smiled continuously while seated in the prisoners' dock, was unrepresented and will return to court next Wednesday by which time, a male relative told the court, he should have retained an attorney.

Reid, who was arrested on April 2, is the lone suspect in the death of Jones-Scott and was being sought by the police since March 11 when the retired nurse was reported missing.

The court heard yesterday that the deceased had bought a house in Bullock Heights, St James some years ago and had been travelling between Jamaica and England.

She had returned in January of this year and on March 11 her family in England made unsuccessful efforts to contact her on both her cellphone and land lines.

The court heard that on March 15 her daughter called the fixed line and a male who identified himself as 'Omar' answered the phone. When she asked for her mother, the person who answered the phone allegedly said Jones-Scott had gone to Montego Bay to purchase compact discs.

Several more questions were asked but there were no satisfactory answers then, and subsequent calls to the phone were not answered.

Soon afterwards, a text was sent from Jones-Scott's cellular phone in response to one sent from her daughter and was signed 'D Scott'. This, the court heard, raised some suspicions and as a result the family made travel arrangements.

On March 19, the court heard, the retired nurse's family and members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force who were acting on intelligence went to the house where they found Jones-Scott's personal diary. It had a last entry on March 11, and it was also observed that the land line was also unplugged.

A laptop computer and a small digital camera, it was heard, were also missing.

On March 21, the partially decomposed body of a white female, later identified by Jones-Scott's daughter as her mother, was pulled from a pit on the property.

A motor vehicle belonging to the deceased was also found securely locked in the yard.

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