The Police have reunited thousands of missing people with their loved ones over the past few years. Brigadier Athlenda Mathe says over the past 5 years, 17,968 missing persons were reunited with their loved ones. She says over 17,000 people were reported missing since 2020. They come from across the country.
The Police reunited thousands of missing people with their loved ones
Brigadier Mathe says of that figure, the number of adults found through intelligence and meticulous detective work is 15,005 adults. The stats also show that 2963 are children under 18 years of age. Of this number, 1919 are female and 967 are male children.
READ MORE: List of all missing persons
She says at the same time, SAPS divers have recovered an additional 3099 bodies from water sources such as rivers and dams. Mathe says these were people who had drowned. The Brigadier added that the teams also assisted in rescue efforts of 2577 persons from water sources.
No waiting period to report missing people
The South African Police Service is once again reminding citizens that anyone who may suspect that a loved one has gone missing must immediately report it to their nearest police station. She says the SAPS remains committed to its mandate of serving and protecting all people living in South Africa and reminds everyone that there is no waiting period to report a loved one missing.
Bring the latest photograph of the missing child or adult
She has advised people visiting a police station to open such a case to bring with the latest photograph of the missing child or adult. Officers will also need the information on what they were wearing at the time of going missing and/or where they were last seen.
Brigadier Mathe concluded that during missing persons investigations, SAPS appoints a multidisciplinary team to handle these cases. This team includes seasoned detectives, crime and counter-intelligence officers, the DPCI(HAWKS), K9 search and rescue, cyber crime unit and where necessary the police diving unit.
