Saga around ‘missing girl’ cleared up
The mother of the Grade R pupil who could not be found for three hours on Friday explains what happened.
THE three hours that a five-year-old Greenwood Park pupil was missing have been accounted for.
ON Friday the Northglen News reported that Ryleigh Ellis was ‘forced’ into a vehicle by two women. Ellis said these were the details they were able to glean from the child on Friday. But according to mother, after chatting to her daughter and to neighbours, it became clear about what happened to the child.
Rhianwyn Ellis said the full picture was emerging after members of the Greenwood Park community explained what happened. “Ryleigh is only five years old, so her version was somewhat jumbled. Ryleigh left school and took it upon herself to walk to my mother’s house, her grandmother.
“Karen Le Grange and her helper drove pass and saw Ryleigh crying outside my mother’s house and waited with her. Karen knows our family very well. After hooting a few times, Le Grange had to fetch her grandsons from school in the Berea area, and took Ryleigh with her. This accounts for some of the time that Ryleigh was missing. Now at that same time, my mum was waiting outside Ryleigh’s school as she usually does every day at 12:30pm,” Ellis said.
According to Ellis when the community member (Karen Le Grange) returned from picking up her grandsons, Ryleigh’s grandmother was still not home.
“They decided to leave her at my mum’s place and watched while she managed to get onto the verandah, where she waited for my mum. After some time, my mom still hadn’t arrived so the two women helped Ryleigh over the gate and into the yard. Thinking that she was safe, they left. My mother arrived home a short while later and found Ryleigh waiting on the verandah,” Ellis said.
“So all the time that Karen had Ryleigh and during the time that Ryleigh was waiting for my mother to come home, we were at the Greenwood Park Police Station, reporting her missing. When my mother left the station to go home, it was only then that she found the child at her house.
“You can only imagine our relief when my mother called to say that Ryleigh was on the verandah unharmed and safe,” Ellis said.
She said they were grateful to everyone who assisted in searching for Ryleigh. “We are truly grateful. To Karen Le Grange and her helper, we say a very big ‘thank you’ for finding Ryleigh and making sure that she was safe. Words cannot accurately describe our gratitude,” Ellis concluded.
