Update: Murdered teen a ‘loved but troubled girl’

“Shannon was a troubled and hard-headed girl but she was loved by everyone who knew her.”

SHANNON Roberts, the 18-year-old woman who was murdered in the coastal bush alongside Warnadoone Lifesaving Club on Friday afternoon, 14 November, was a troubled but special soul according to the many friends and family members paying tribute to her on a newly established memorial Facebook page.
Her adoptive father, and biological uncle, Gavin Roberts told the Sun how he had raised Shannon from the age of about six-months.

Shannon was born to his sister but he raised her as part of his family in Gauteng, and she was a much-loved sister to his own daughter, who is a year older.
“Shannon had a normal, stable upbringing until her early teens,” said Gavin. “She liked her freedom but had a very soft side.”
During the Soccer World Cup, at the age of 14, Shannon decided she wanted to meet her biological mother, who was living in Durban at the time. After meeting her, she decided to live with her. She subsequently picked up problems at school, and finally dropped out of school. “I don’t know what went wrong,” said Gavin.
According to Gavin, her mother left Durban for Gauteng a few years ago, and left Shannon in the care of a social worker. “I was still supporting her and she was on my medical aid, but she wouldn’t allow me to interfere in her life.”
Soon she moved in with friends and “everything seemed fine, she was happy”. Last year she moved in with her biological father in Gauteng but soon afterwards, she ran away. “When I contacted her and decided through ‘tough love’ to put my foot down and insist that she come home to stay with us, she told me that wasn’t the solution as she would simply keep running away,” explained Gavin.
While in Toti for the SA netball tournament earlier this year with his daughter, Gavin arranged to meet with Shannon. “We went to the mall for lunch and shopping. Not long after, she moved out and in with her friend Dominique and her family.”
All seemed fine, according to Gavin, and then about three weeks ago, Shannon called to say she was at the hospital in Toti, and was receiving stitches for cuts to her arms. “I don’t know what happened and don’t want to speculate,” added Gavin. “Shannon was a troubled and hard-headed girl but she was loved by everyone who knew her.”
Gavin is having her body transported to Gauteng this week, in time for a funeral service this Saturday.

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