Disabled woman goes missing
2011-01-27 10:26
Johannesburg - A disabled woman from a farm in Rayton, east of Pretoria, has been missing since Monday after she was presumably kidnapped by a person she met on the cellphone chat application MXit.
Elizabeth (Liza) Connoway, 33, who is mentally as well as physically disabled, appears normal but drags her feet and walks with a limp. She easily falls over her own feet, said her mother, Elize Fourie, 57, on Wednesday.
"I am not angry. Please don't hurt my child and bring her back or leave her somewhere where we can find her," pleaded Fourie.
Fourie said that on the night of her disappearance, Connoway had covered her other disabled daughter, Bernize Connoway, 20, with a blanket in her bed and told her: "Remember, it's your birthday tomorrow."
Cellphone
"Liza then went to her room after saying goodnight to me and her stepfather. She shut the door to her room.
"The next morning at about 08:30 I wondered why she was sleeping so late. I went to her room and only found an unmade bed. We searched everywhere but there was no sign of Liza."
She said apart from the cellphone, nothing else was gone. They also couldn't tell exactly what time of the night she had disappeared. She is presumably wearing dark denim jeans with a black tracksuit jacket and black shoes.
Fourie said she suspected her daughter had maybe become involved with someone on MXit.
"I realised a while ago that she was on MXit and I warned her to stay away.
"She said she didn't chat anymore on MXit but now I wonder if she didn't perhaps go on doing it after all, because why else would she have just disappeared?"
Fourie's husband, Hendrik Fourie, 56, and others searched the farm but found no trace of Connoway.
"We have reported the incident to the police.
"Liza has had her dog for eight years and has never gone anywhere without him. She would never have left him out of her own free will."
Unstable
Connoway turned 33 on January 19.
She has problems with her hips and has had several operations. "She is sometimes so unstable on her feet that you can push her over with your finger.
"Although she appears normal, she has the thoughts of a young child and she often has memory loss."
Police spokesperson Johannes Jafta said at this stage police are investigating a missing persons case.
"We are already busy with a search and will keep the family up to date," said Jafta.
