On May 4, 2020, The Royal Gazettepublished a three-paragraph story — 78 words — on a police appeal to help find 26-year-old Chavelle Dillon-Burgess, who had been missing from her Warwick home for two weeks.

At that stage it just another missing person, not unusual, and was given the kind of coverage and prominence that most newspapers around the world would do.

That changed when Chavelle’s mother, Rose Belboda, held a press conference and police stepped up their appeals for the mother of one who was reported missing by Ms Belboda on April 30, 2020 — although police said that friends and close associates had not seen or heard from her since April 11.

“If anybody knows about her whereabouts, could you please contact my family members or the police,” urged Ms Belboda.

Acting Superintendent Arthur Glasford said at the time: “It is highly uncommon for Chavelle to not make contact with her loved ones and close friends.”

How prescient of Mr Glasford.

By May 6, searches were being organised by a friend who said that she would never expect Ms Dillon-Burgess to go missing.

“This is Bermuda. Bermuda is only so big. I don’t feel like it should have been two weeks since someone has last seen her,” said the friend.

At the time, Chavelle worked at the Fairmont Southampton hotel, and staff there joined in the search for their colleague.

As the days without a sighting, other groups joined. Chavelle was from Jamaica and members of the Jamaican Association and St David’s County Cricket Club also took part in the searches.

By May 8, the searches, which started at the Rubber Tree, in Warwick, had spread to the Southlands estate, parts of Sandys, including areas around Lagoon Park, Lefroy House, Albert Row, Sea Glass Beach and the Spittal Pond Nature Reserve, in Smith’s.

As the search continued, the Royal Bermuda Regiment — which Chavelle was due to join — started taking part as the areas covered took in Hog Bay Park in Sandys, continuing west to Fort Scaur.

Chavelle’s 27th birthday came on May 11 as the search continued with Stephen Corbishley, then the police commissioner, saying: “We hope that we are going to find her well, but given the length of time that she’s been missing, obviously we are extremely concerned that either she’s been held against her will or something else has happened to her.”

At this stage, police were growing increasingly worried as Jason Smith, then a detective sergeant, told a press conference: “During the police investigation into the circumstances surrounding her disappearance, several warning markers have been raised, leading to suspicion over her disappearance.”

At the same press conference, Mr Smith said: “When considering all of these points, it is the view of the investigating team that her disappearance should be treated as suspicious.”

By now, police estimated that 95 per cent of the island had been searched.

A breakthrough came when, on May 25, police said a 39-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of murdering Chavelle Dillon-Burgess. He was later released on police bail.

Police announced the news as they revealed Chavelle had probably “come to the gravest of harm”.

Mr Smith told a press conference: “It is with a heavy heart that the Bermuda Police Service declare that the disappearance of Ms Chavelle Dillon-Burgess is being treated as a suspected case of murder.”

By mid-June a reward of $50,000 was on offer for information about Chavelle, but still there was nothing.

Later police brought in a dog specially trained to search for bodies, and even used a mini-submarine with a camera to search the water for Chavelle.

Still, nothing.

In October 2020, police said that the coastguard was involved in the search and that they were liaising with their counterparts in the South East of England where officers succeeded in getting a murder conviction in a case where a body had never been found.

The year ended with no more information despite appeals, then at the start of March 2021, Kamal Worrell appeared in Magistrates’ Court in connection with the death of Chavelle on an unknown date between April 10 and June 11 in 2020.

Worrell was also charged with one count of wounding Ms Dillon and seven counts of assault on her. He was further charged with interference with an electronic tag device.

Yet, even though the investigation had reached a critical milestone, there was still no sign of Chavelle. In May 2021, detectives said they remained hopeful of finding her remains and appealed to the conscience of people who might have information to come forward.

Mr Smith said at the time: “We just want to remind and appeal to the public that although a person has been charged, does not mean that an investigation has ended.

“We still need to find her remains so that we can bring closure to her family and also complete the investigation.”

On November 10 last year, Worrell’s murder trial started. Yesterday he was convicted of her murder by a jury, which reached a majority verdict.

In an interview with The Royal Gazette before Worrell was convicted, Mr Smith, now detective inspector, said: “Our appeal for any information on where Chavelle might be will be ongoing.

“Because the family, I know it's a bit of a cliché now, but the family can't have closure. That’s something you must be very aware of.”

Help find Chavelle.