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THE fear of losing a child is every parent`s worst nightmare.

But for the Ruiters family of Philippi, this fear became a nightmarish reality when their nine-year-old daughter went missing.

Russel Ruiters says he realised his daughter, Sheena, was gone on Saturday, 8 July.

"She was playing with her brother and I told her to find a wheel I was planning to use. A while later her brother came back from the bush and said Sheena had run away."

According to Ruiters, Sheena?s disappearance was caused by her fear of being spanked by him, after she and her brother failed to find the wheel he needed. Ruiters then went in search of his daughter and combed the bushes of the farm-land they live on.

"It was not the first time Sheena had run away. In the past she ran away to family in Heinz Park where we stayed before, so I thought that I?d find her," says Ruiters. However, by Tuesday Sheena was still missing without a trace, prompting Ruiters to go to the police.

Almost immediately, the police embarked on a major search, says Ruiters.

The 30-member search party included officers from the Philippi police station and the Hanover Park Community Policing Forum.

"The search was made more difficult by the dense bushes we had to cover and because of the time that elapsed between the time she went missing and the time the parents reported the case," says Philippi SAPS spokesperson, Inspector Etienne Conradie.

"We started off by searching the bushes, sending out a missing report, handing out fliers with her picture on it and asking people who may have seen her."

Their dedication resulted in success after Sheena was found in Paarl, almost 60 kilometres from her home.

"We eventually established that Sheena had run about six kilometres through the bush, through the Samora Michel informal settlement and to the Philippi train station. She then took a train to Cape Town, where a woman found her and took her to Paarl.

"She was then found on Wednesday, 12 July at a safe house there," says Conradie.

Ruiters says he was "overwhelmed" when they found her. Sheena`s mother, Nicollette, says she spent sleepless nights worrying about her daughter.

"When she ran away she was wearing a skirt and a tank top and anything can happen to a girl."

Adds Ruiters, "I`m very grateful to the police because they worked hard to find her and didn?t give up.

"They also drove me around to all the places where she possibly could have been and they referred us to a social worker at the victim support centre, who will help us help Sheena".

Commenting on the matter, Inspector Conradie says he was grateful for the dedication by all the parties involved. He urges the community to immediately file a missing persons? complaint in such cases.

"If someone goes missing, don?t wait to call the police. The sooner you do it, the easier we can find the child.

"And although we are grateful to the woman who helped Sheena, we advise people who find missing children to take them to their nearest police stations so the child can be returned home as soon as possible," he says.

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