A schoolgirl who allegedly went missing on Thursday has been found, thanks to the public in the Bootha plot area.
While the exact details surrounding the situation are a bit sketchy, the Herald was informed by several Community Policing Forum (CPF) groups as well as other community groups that the girl went missing at about 6pm yesterday and that she was found close to her home three hours later.
Henry Boyce, Chairperson of the Sector 5A CPF also contacted the Herald on Friday morning and said the alleged Grade 5 learner was found by them as a result of an outstanding effort from the community.
“There were about 40 vehicles searching for the missing girl. The reaction to this incident shows that the community pulled together and through quick communication the girl was found,” he said.
Matium van Vuuren, Chairperson of AfriForum Randfontein, added that this incident showed amazing efforts by the community and all involved.
The identity of the girl is known to the Herald, but to protect her and her family, it will not be made public. Captain Appel Ernst, the Randfontein Police’s spokesperson, applauded the community for jumping in to find the girl, and reminded the community that there is no need to wait to report a missing person – the sooner the disappearance is reported, the better.
Also Read: Missing girl, 16, found
Earlier this week, the Missing Persons Bureau revealed that a child goes missing every five hours in South Africa, according to a summary of cases reported to Missing Children SA for the period 1 May 2016 to 30 April 2017 – but this does not reflect all the cases reported to the police. It’s also said their case load increases every year – not necessarily only because more individuals go missing, but also because more people become aware of Missing Children SA and the service they render.
Their overall statistics for the period mentioned reveal the following:
• Adults missing: 304
• Adults found: 167
• Children missing: 181
• Children found: 145
Bianca van Aswegen, the National Case Officer for Missing Children SA said, “Therefore, we have an overall success rate of 64 per cent. For the children’s cases alone, our success rate is 80 per cent. It is an unfortunate reality that 9 per cent of the children found were deceased. Every year we see the success rate decrease – we cannot say for a fact that it is because fewer people are found again, or whether it is because more cases are reported to our organisation.”
A breakdown of the total number of cases reported to Missing Children SA in Gauteng and the North-West Province shows that 125 adults went missing in Gauteng, and 75 were found. Of the 76 children reported missing, 69 were located, while in the North-West, 13 adults went missing and 12 were found, and only three children, of whom two were found, were reported missing.
The reasons for missing children reports include; run-aways (43 per cent); reasons unknown (35 per cent); deceased (7 per cent); kidnapped (6 per cent); parental/ family abduction (6 per cent), and lost (3 per cent).
The percentage break-down by age of the children reported missing indicates that 15 per cent are aged from zero to six years, 13 per cent are between the ages of seven and twelve, and 72 per cent fall into the thirteen to seventeen age bracket.
October 2016 saw the highest number of cases reported to Missing Children SA, with 51 individuals going missing. The lowest reported number of cases occurred in November 2016, with only 31 cases coming in.
Of the persons found deceased, 43 were children, and 30 were adults.
The racial group distribution indicates that 42 per cent of the cases related to Africans, 18 per cent to Coloureds, 25 per cent to whites, and 5 percent to other race groups, including Indians and Asians.
Read more: Teenage girl missing
Missing Children SA confirmed that there is no waiting period for reporting a person missing to the nearest police station. Should you report a person to the police station and the police officer tells you to come back after 24 hours, demand to speak to the station commander. Or, alternatively, contact Missing Children SA and the organisation will intervene and assist wherever possible.
When reporting a person missing to the police station, the following information will be required along with a recent photograph of the missing person:
• Full name
• Age
• Description, including eye colour, hair colour/ style, height, and weight
• A list of distinctive marks, such as scars, birthmarks and tattoos
• Where was the person last seen
• Clothes the person was wearing
Missing Children SA has an informal document that serves as a guideline to parents about what will be needed by police when a child goes missing, called the Interim ID Kit. It can be downloaded from their website, or you can send an e-mail to info@missingchildren.org.za and they will send you an electronic copy.
Teach your children the basic safety tips, which are also available from their website.
• Details: For other ways to get involved, please visit www.missingchildren.org.za
Contact details for Missing Children SA:
• Emergency Number: 072MISSING / 072 647 7464
• General Enquiries/ Office: 021 950 1546
• Media Enquiries: media@missingchildren.org.za
• E-mail Address: info@missingchildren.org.za
• Website: www.missingchildren.org.za
• Join their Facebook Group: Missing Children SA Page
• Follow them on Twitter: @072missing
