Missing disabled teen found 100km from home
Case closed: Sháleen Sarah Butcher has been found.
The search for an 18-year-old disabled girl has come to an end, but it has a bittersweet ending.
Sháleen Sarah Butcher was found just a day after she disappeared from her mother’s home in Tier Street, Greenhills. She went missing on Wednesday, 16 November and was found Thursday, 17 November, in the early afternoon.
Strikingly, the teen was found in Sasolburg, approximately 100kms from where she was last seen.
According to her mother, Charmain Cunningham, her daughter hiked all the way from Randfontein to Sasolburg but the hike was not a matter of friendly motorists assisting a young disabled teen. Charmain claims a man picked her daughter up thinking she was a prostitute.
Fortunately Sháleen managed to escape the man’s clutches and get on the road again. She then managed to get a lift with other motorists and eventually ended up in Sasolburg.
Her mother said Sháleen’s destination makes sense, if you consider that her sister lives in Vanderbijl Park, which is located to the west of Sasolburg, and she was probably thinking of visiting her.
According to Charmain, Sháleen is still traumatised by the incident and is wary of being home alone but other that, her daughter is fine.
Charmain said she is just happy to have her daughter safely back home. She also mentioned that the social media had helped in the search, as she had posted in many Facebook groups to publicise the news of her daughter’s disappearance.
For this family, the nightmare is over – but many other teens like Sháleen don’t find their way home or are found in body-bags days or even weeks later.
According to the Pink Ladies’ website, when reporting a missing person, loved ones are to make sure they complete a Form 55 at their nearest police station, and that a case number is provided. Thereafter, they urge loved ones to contact them for assistance in the search.
The Pink Ladies’ missing persons report can be found at https://thepinkladiesza.weebly.com/report-missing-childadult.html. It should be downloaded, completed and emailed to them at missing@pinkladies.org.za or operationspinkladies@gmail.com.
The Pink Ladies Organisation for Missing Children can also be contacted on 072 214 7439.
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Missing child every five hours in SA
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