Missing-girl mom's double hell
2005-09-20 22:31
Cape Town - A mother is living through a double hell after her seven-year-old daughter went missing and the body of a young girl was found in the veld, burnt beyond recognition.
The worry Patricia Solomons felt when her daughter went missing was replaced by shock when she thought the burnt body might be her seven-year-old Veronique.
Police said, however, that the burnt body was unlikely to be that of Veronique and they still were searching for the young Grade 2 pupil from Steenberg.
Police, meanwhile, now have a second major riddle to solve: who is the young girl, estimated at between eight and ten years old, who was found burnt to death in thick bush near Zeekoevlei?
Mrs Solomons said on Tuesday: "Veronique, come back to Mommy, Mommy misses you."
Veronique was seen last on Monday afternoon when she left Steenberg Primary School. It is suspected she was kidnapped soon afterwards.
The charred body was found in thick bushes near Zeekoevlei.
A homeless man, who found the body about 15:30, doused the flames and wrapped it in a blanket before carrying it to Salie Dylwai's house in Strandfontein Road.
Dylwai said: "He came here with the child on his shoulder and put her down in the doorway and said he didn't know if she was still alive or dead.
"There was no sign of life. Her feet and legs had the worst burns."
Steenberg Primary principal Matthew Lambert said Veronique had walked the few hundred metres to her home about 13:30.
Parents walking with their kids
Her family suspected something was wrong when her cousin, Kim Solomons, seven, who usually walked home with her, came home alone.
Veronique's mother said her child's school case was lying outside against the front door.
"My sister and her family were here at home, but they saw and heard nothing. Just her little case was lying there.
"She always came straight home, I don't know what could have happened to her."
Dennis Mentoor, a church friend of the Solomons family, said police thought it unlikely the charred body was Veronique's because the little girl had lost her front teeth - the burnt body had front teeth.
He said about Veronique: "We still believe she's alive. Some children said they saw her with a man on a bicycle in Symphony Road."
Police have gone from house to house, searching for witnesses who may have seen Veronique on Monday.
On Tuesday, parents streamed to the school to walk their children home.
Veronique was wearing dark-blue tracksuit pants, a white shirt, shoes and socks. She has long dark hair and a birthmark on her chin.
Anyone with information can phone inspector Naomi Brooks at 021 701 1390 or 021 701 2540.