Friday, March 29, 2024

IT MATTERS TO MARIA: Searching, but can’t find King

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WHO IS KEN KING? And where is he?
Four months after a man named Ken King conducted a mile-and-a-half road race and offered prizes of two 2010 Toyota Corollas from Nassco to the first male and female to cross the finishing line, he cannot be found and the prizes are still outstanding.
Local boxer Keithland King, who finished first among the males, has been searching high and low for the mysterious man who bears his surname but has not been able to locate him up to this day.
The race was held on the evening of June 6, starting at the northern end of the Spring Garden Highway and concluding outside Kensington Oval. It was billed Catch Me If You Can but King believes that the only winner is a fleet-footed, elusive Ken King.
He said he paid $50 to enter the race but other persons paid $100 and he estimated that more than 200 people participated. The first 25 people were supposed to receive various prizes.
The disappointed King said he was approached by local long distance runner Leo Garnes about participating. “He told me about the race and he said he believed that I should enter because I could win it.”
The 26-year-old man said he paid and received an entry form which stated that the race was being sponsored by Brainworkz Inc.
“I had three cellphone numbers for Mr King as well as an email address for Brainworkz but after the race I was never able to reach him,” he said.
However, he began to suspect something was wrong on the evening of the race when the vehicles were not handed over.
“We were supposed to receive our prizes immediately after the race but when we got to the finishing line Mr King said that he was going to have an awards ceremony on July 5 at the Boatyard complex. On that day me and the other prize-winners turned up and were informed by an employee that Mr King said if anyone turned up concerning a race tell them to go to Sherbourne Conference Centre.
“We left the Boatyard and went over to Sherbourne but Mr King never turned up, even though we waited for a long time. We called the three cell numbers which he had given us but they kept going straight to voice mail.
“I then received an email from King informing that the prize giving ceremony had been temporarily postponed until further notice. My godmother then called Nassco to find out about the vehicles and she was informed that Nassco was not involved in the organisation of the race and that Mr King had not purchased the two vehicles.
“Nobody can find Mr King. I feel really bad about this because I put in a lot of work and I was determined to come first to win the car.”
He said he was now contemplating filing a report with the police.
But he is not the only angry person searching for Ken King.
A young woman who was involved in soliciting participants for the race said she and two colleagues had also not been paid.
“Mr King hired us to promote the race and we got several people to sign up for $100. We were supposed to be paid daily but he kept telling us that he would pay us the following week and then he stopped taking our calls. We have not been able to locate him since the race,” said the woman who did not wish to give her name.
She pointed out that the last known address she had for him was at Flagstaff, St Michael. I also visited Flagstaff Road but was unable to locate Ken King.
When contacted, Roger Hill of Nassco, local dealers for Toyota, said King had approached the dealership about purchasing two vehicles as prizes for the race.
“We told him upfront that he would have to pay for the vehicles in full before we could hand them over to him. He agreed to do so but up to this day he has not paid a cent, neither has he made any arrangement to pay.
“We tried contacting him just before and after the race but were unable to reach him. We were not sponsors of the race neither were we involved in it in any way,” Hill said.
Hill said two weeks before the race he saw King, who told him that over 2 000 people had registered for the race and that he was excited about the response.

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