British grandmother battered to death in Jamaica had just split up with toyboy lover wanted for her murder
A retired British nurse who was found battered to death on the Caribbean island of Jamaica had recently tried to end an affair with a younger lover, police said last night.
The semi-naked body of 61 year-old Barbara Scott-Jones was found on Friday, concealed in a concrete-sealed sewage pit behind her holiday home.
Grandmother Mrs Scott-Jones - described as a "wonderful, selfless woman" - is said to have been in a relationship with labourer Omar Reid - but had either just ended or tried to end the affair.
Now 6ft 4in Reid, 30, is the prime suspect in a murder hunt.
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Victim: Barbara Jones-Scott, seen with her grandson Joseph, suffered a fractured skull The builder, who had been renovating Mrs Scott-Jones's home in the north west of the island, is thought to have fled Jamaica before the grim discovery was made.
The divorced mother-of-three had been stripped to her underwear and suffered a catalogue of injuries including a fractured skull.
Mrs Scott-Jones's anxious family, flew out to Jamaica after becoming concerned that they had not heard from her for more than 10 days.
The family have insisted Reid was not her lover and was only helping with building work at the home she had owned on the island for the last 15 years and there was "no evidence" they were "intimately linked".
But last night local police said Reid and Mrs Scott-Jones were romantically involved.
District Constable Rosemary Armstrong, based at Adelphi Police station, said: "They were often seen out together and it was known in Somerton that they were involved.
Taunts: Omar Reid, who detectives now fear may have fled the island "Our information is that Mrs Scott-Jones had ended or was trying to end the relationship.
"People in Somerton have told us they were involved together. They were often seen in the town together in the evenings.
"This is a wicked crime and there is one person of interest that we want to talk with. Reid has not been seen since Mrs Scott-Jones went missing."
Superintendent Steve McGregor, who is leading the investigation, has said there was an "established relationship" between Reid and Scott-Jones.
Police said Reid, who has several front teeth missing, disappeared from his Somerton home soon after Scott-Jones failed to make contact with her family in the UK.
They said they have not had any contact with him since the murder hunt was launched.
Mrs Scott-Jones had been due to return to her home in Leeds, West Yorkshire, in May.
It was the death of her sister Linda Armstrong, killed in a car crash in Denmark last year, that had taken her to Jamaica where they owned a home together.
The house was so full of memories that Mrs Scott-Jones had decided to sell up, and had been renovating the property with the help of Reid.
Daughter Salina Jones-Yildiz said the last time she spoke with her mother she told her she wanted to return to the UK earlier than planned.
"She told me she was going to try and get an earlier flight back to England as she was feeling like there was some hostility towards her.
"She had a nice car and she said a lot of people asked her for money - which she wouldn't give."
They spoke on March 11, when the grandmother "sounded a bit poorly".
Mrs Jones-Yildiz became concerned when she heard no more and called with no response.
Then, when she rang the house phone, a man answered and told her that her mother had gone away.
"I knew something wasn't right as she would never go away without telling me." she said.
"The man who answered the phone was her caretaker Omar Reid.
"Mum used to give him money on a regular basis. She said she was going to stop doing this and did so about two weeks before her death."
After continued unanswered calls she received a text message last Saturday saying "Ring you when get home. B Scott."
"I was very suspicious by this point as she always signed her texts with 'Mum'," said Mrs Jones-Yildiz.
She flew out to Jamaica a week ago with her nine year-old son. Her father Charlie Jones, Mrs Scott-Jones's ex-husband, arrived the following day.
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Heartache: Daughter Salina and father Charlie at the scene They were both present when Mrs Scott-Jones body was found following an anonymous tip off to police. It took police seven hours to extract her decomposing body from the pit.
Mrs Jones-Yildiz said her mother wrote a diary every day. The last entry was March 11.
She added: "I found a post-it note with the number of the local police station, so she must have been worried, and her suitcases were all packed."
The family, including her other children Brandon, 37 and Suzie, 33, issued a statement on Saturday expressing their shock at the murder.
In a moving tribute they said: "Mum was a wonderful selfless woman who had given most of her life to others in bringing up her three children and in her 20 year marriage with Charles whom she remained close friends.
"It is a tragic loss and one that we will never recover from."
. . . poor woman. . .
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The 61-year-old's body was found buried in a concrete pit near to her home 