With an increase in missing persons’ being reported in the townships, the Moroka police are now urging residents to report such cases as soon as possible.
Communications officer of the Moroka Police Station, John Serala said before the police used to request that people be reported 24 hours after they had gone missing, but this has changed and now has no particular time.
He said residents are advised to report missing children, elderly people or person with mental illness immediately to the police.
If it is a reasonable person, they should first find out their whereabouts and if the person does not return home, after a couple of hours go to the police station.
Serala said: “We plead for the family to not just rush to the police station, but to first look out for the child or person who has gone missing at their usual spots. Try and find out information from neighbours and friends. If that fails, then you can come to us with a recent picture of the person and as much information as possible about them.”
A list of things to take note of when opening a missing person’s case:
- Have accurate information about the person you are looking for.
- Go to the police station with the latest photograph of the person.
- Know what your children or other family is wearing when they leave the house.
- Know everyone’s whereabouts daily.
- Parents teach children their names and surnames, home addresses, your name and contact numbers.
Serala said: “We ask for families to update their pictures regularly, especially photos of children because over time people change and if the photo is not updated it makes it harder to find them. Before opening a missing person’s case, we will do a preliminary investigation to look out for the person, but should we be unable to find them then a missing person’s case will be opened.”
