The parents of Antonio Barker, Antonio Senior and Annette Barker pay rap attention as other family members and friends pay tribute to the life of their son. (UR)

A FAMILY'S almost year-long grief as the result of the abduction/murder of a loved one received some closure yesterday.

A service of thanksgiving was held at Coral Ridge Memorial Gardens, Newton, Christ Church, for Antonio Vivian Andre Barker, who was abducted from his home in Rock Dundo Park, St Michael, in September 2005 and his bones discovered in a canefield at Staple Grove, St George, in March this year.

Eldest sister Heather Roberts said the 22-year-old was a fun-loving person full of spirit and life.

She said though he was schooled and brought up well and told about the path in which he should go, something went wrong.

Big brother Roger Barker said this country should see their tragedy as a wake-up call.

He said Barbados was breeding a dangerous set of people, a generation of thugs without principles.

"They don't worry about humanity. They want money and they don't have any principles . . . . It is an evil thing when you can take a man from his house
in his boxer shorts like you were buying a Ju-C or a beer," he said.

He said while many were standing silent and no one could come forward with information about his brother's death, there were people on the streets manipulating young people like Antonio.

"Life is important. We need to do something about the thuggery and stop the hypocrisy before we end up caught in the crossfire," he added.

Several tributes were also paid in song by Richard Stoute, John King, Kim Walcott and Cherish Breedy. (WB)