PORT ELIZABETH - ALL 3 MISSING MOTHERWELL TODDLERS FOUND ALIVE & UNHARMED

Motherwell Cluster Commander, Maj Gen Dawie Rabie expressed his appreciation to all the officers and members for their dedication for going the extra mile over and above their normal working hours to search for the  three children  who went missing yesterday afternoon, 26 February 2019 in NU 29 Motherwell.

Almost 21 hours later, the 3 children were found alive and ecstatic to be re-united with their parents.  The search for the missing children started last night 26 February 2019 and continued throughout the day with police searching bushes, doing door-to-door enquiries and following up on any and every information received from the community.

It is alleged that on Tuesday, 26 February 2019 at about 12:15 the children were last seen playing in an open field near their house .At about 15:00,  the parents realised they were missing and went to look for them on their own. After their own search proved futile, they contacted the police at 22:00. A team of police officers (Motherwell detectives, Vispol, FCS, K9 search and Rescue and Airwing) and the community started searching for the children in nearby bushes and at about 03:15, this morning 27 February 2019, the search was called off due to poor visibility. The search continued from 06:00 again on Wednesday.

The first child, Linamandla  Zenzile (3) was found  at about 14:25 sitting on a weighbridge by workers at the Amanzi quarry which is situated between Uitenhage and Motherwell.  SAPS Uitenhage was alerted and the child was fetched and taken to SAPS Motherwell.

Immediately, the search shifted to the quarry area and apart from SAPS re-enforcements, more community and Metro Search and Rescue with their dogs volunteered their assistance and the dense bushes were searched. At about 19:00, SAPS Motherwell members were in the quarry combing every space possible when at about 19:06, Lt Col Jesvin Arends and W/O Francois Marais went behind a sand dune and heard the whimper of a child. The two children Othandwayo Zenzile (4) and Nande Nombewu (3) were found lying on the rocks on the ground.  They were found almost 7 km from their home.

All three children are at the Uitenhage hospital undergoing medical examinations.

‘”It was overwhelming to see how the communities from all over the metro offered their assistance in whatever way possible to find these children. People came straight from work and joined the search. We are just glad that these children are now safe and reunited with their parents. We urge parents to be extra cautious and to know where their children are at all times. Children as young as these should never be left out of sight,” added Maj Gen Rabie.

via - SAPS