The joint undying efforts of various local law-enforcement agencies and community patrollers led to their finding an elderly woman who had been reported missing.
The 74-year-old woman from Boksburg went missing on Saturday, 26 September. It was reported that she suffered from dementia, a syndrome which causes memory loss and affects the ability to perform everyday activities.
While an investigation was under way to locate her, posters were circulated on numerous social-media platforms to create awareness.
The director of BCI Security, Corinda Loots, whose company joined in on the search, indicated that the woman’s banking transactions were traced and followed up.
“The last transaction was found to be at the Total garage close to Kagiso,” she said.
Corinda added that the following day (27 September) information was received that three suspects were spotted with a granny in the Kagiso and Chamdor areas.
“We went and searched in those areas with all the role players such as the AfriForum, CPFs and neighbourhood watches,” she explained.
The search squad received another lead while in Kagiso, which they pursued with the help of the police and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD).
Corinda highlighted that the vehicle in question was intercepted at a traffic jam, leading to one arrest and the elderly woman being rescued.
She explained that the nabbed suspect was asked to provide information on the other suspects who were caught on CCTV cameras at the petrol station withdrawing money.
“He first denied the involvement of others but eventually told us where he had dropped them off. We went to the location – a shebeen – where the suspect jumped fences and escaped as soon as he spotted us,” she explained.
After failing to nab the other suspect, Corinda said they returned to the scene and took the elderly woman to open a case at Roodepoort Police Station and for a medical check-up.
Unfortunately, Roodepoort Police Station could not confirm the case before going to print.
This is a developing story.
