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Taitano missing since Thursday
Car found abandoned by radar building in Marpi
Joan L. Taitano
A woman has been reported missing since Thursday. Police found her car yesterday in Marpi but there were no signs of the missing woman.
The police are pursuing all leads to locate Joan L. Taitano, chair of the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Program advisory council and vice chair of the State Behavioral Health Council.
Acting police spokesman Lt. Jason Tarkong appealed to the public yesterday for help in locating the 37-year-old Taitano, who is also a board member of the Northern Marianas Protection and Advocacy Systems, Inc.
Tarkong said that Taitano’s white 2016 Toyota Yaris was recovered by police near the radar building in Marpi. He said there were no signs of Taitano and she remains missing.
A source said patrol police found the car abandoned on the pavement right by the radar yesterday after lunch. The car was locked but there were no signs of Taitano, the source said.
Tarkong said that police met with Taitano’s relative in Garapan on Sunday at 3:15pm. The relative had notified police that Taitano was last seen Thursday night at her house in Dandan.
She was reportedly last seen wearing a plain white T-shirt, a pair of blue short pants, and slippers. She is described as 5’3” tall, with shoulder length dark hair, and about 180 to 190 lbs.
Taitano used to work as a Saipan Tribune reporter.
Anyone who has information about Taitano may also call the NMI Crime Stoppers hotline at 234-7272.
Meanwhile, police could still not find assistant public defender Jamal A. Saleh, who has been missing since last Oct. 3.
Police said the 49-year-old Saleh could not sleep and went for a walk from his apartment unit in As Teo at 1:30am.
Saleh is an Arab/Indian native. He and his girlfriend, assistant public defender Shoshanah Epstein, arrived on Saipan from New Mexico last May to work at the Office of the Public Defender.
