Despair in the search for missing loved ones

	By Kashiefa Ajam

Hundreds of South African families are tormented by the daily anguish of not knowing when their missing loved one might be found. More than 1 800 adults and nearly 1 300 children were reported missing in South Africa last year alone.

Not all were kidnapped - as was alleged in the case of Leigh Matthews - or abducted, but their loved ones are forced to relive their nightmares when they hear of someone else who has disappeared.

National police spokesperson Mary Martins-Engelbrecht says that according to statistics, the number of people abducted in South Africa has, in fact, decreased since 1994.

Abductions were at their peak in 2000 and 2001, with a total of 4 916 such events, while the total for 2002-2003 had dropped to 3 071.

Head of the Missing Persons Bureau, Fanie van Deventer, said these figures included family abductions, suspected abductions as well as kidnappings.

He said although the total number of people currently missing was about 50 percent male and 50 percent female, a large number of girls, 15 or older, run away from home because of peer pressure or the disapproval of their parents.

"About 70 percent of females aged 15 and older who run away from home do so because their parents don't approve of their boyfriends or because they were pressured into running away by their friends."

Van Deventer said the Leigh Matthews case had proved to be a challenge, because kidnapping for ransom was not a common occurrence in South Africa: "It is not often that we have to deal with ransom demands. In the past five years, we have had fewer than eight kidnapping cases where the suspects demanded money from the victim's family."

He said the bureau, which opened 10 years ago, had a success rate of 76 percent - with the successes of finding missing people under 18 at 88 percent.

"The Missing Persons Bureau never ever closes cases when people are not found. Every year we just review the cases and broadcast the details of the cases again. Until a person is found, the case will remain open and the investigation will continue," said Van Deventer.

Meanwhile, more than a week after Leigh Matthews disappeared, investigators are still trying to piece together a puzzle which they hope could lead them to the young woman.

The 21-year-old was allegedly kidnapped from outside the parking lot of Bond University in Sandton last Friday - the day before her 21st birthday party.

Calling her cellphone on Friday afternoon, her father Rob heard the voice of an apparent kidnapper, whom he said demanded money in return for his daughter.

He also spoke to his daughter, who assured him she was unharmed and that he should meet the demands of the kidnappers and not involve the police.

Matthews said he then drove to the agreed location and dropped off the money. He told journalists last week that he had watched someone pick up the money from the side of the road. But the kidnappers did not keep their end of the bargain.

They did not release Leigh as they said they would, and, by Friday evening, the Matthews family had not yet heard from their daughter.

This week, a 24-hour call centre was set up, manned by members of the family. They took calls from all over the country.

In addition, a media company has posted pictures of Leigh on all of its digital screens around the country and at business outlets.

Police spokesperson Chris Wilken said on Friday members of the serious and violent crimes unit, tracing unit, crime intelligence unit, the uniform branch as well as ordinary detectives were working on the case.

He said he could not comment further as any information released could hamper the investigation.

The outcome of a kidnapping case is usually unpredictable. In some instances the victims are found unharmed, but in other cases the victims are found slain or never found at all.

The disappearance of five South African schoolgirls in 1989 made news headlines for months. Those cases remain among the country's major unsolved crimes .

The disappearance of Joan Horn (then 12) of Pretoria West, Annemarie Wapenaar, 12, Odette Boucher 11, Yolande Wessels, 12, all from Kempton Park and Fiona Harvey, 12 of Pietermaritzburg were later linked to paedophile Gert van Rooyen.

Van Rooyen and his girlfriend and alleged accomplice Joey Haarhof committed suicide before police could question them, and the girls' bodies were never found.

Although the investigation into the girls' disappearances is no longer "active", their cases remain open.

Anyone with information is asked to phone the call centre at 011 497 7343 or 011 497 7571, or the investigating officer Gabriel Hall at 082 568 4668.

Information about any of the missing women above can be forwarded to the Missing Persons Bureau at 012 393 2005; or call the CrimeStop number at 08600 10111.