Mom's heartfelt letter to missing child
2012-02-21 22:43
Cape Town - A Rustenburg mother has written a heartfelt letter to her daughter who vanished without a trace more than 10 years ago, pleading to know her child’s whereabouts.
The letter was released along with a police ID kit of what the daughter might look like today at the age of 26.
When Edna Elaine Piercey went missing, she had short black hair. She is Caucasian with brown eyes.
Janine Lottering says in the letter to Edna Elaine Piercey that it has been "10 long years since I have physically seen your beautiful face".
Piercey went missing on 14 October 2001 after returning from a school camp. After washing her clothes and telling her step-father about her weekend, the then 16-year-old schoolgirl said she was walking over to a friend’s house to fetch her school case.
But she was never seen or heard from again.
Wouldn't run away'
Lottering told News24 on Tuesday she doesn't believe that Edna would have run away.
"I would say if she planned to run away, why bother [washing] school clothes? Why bother to take off [her] watch and rings and put it in [her] dressing table if [she's] planning on running away?
"Why come home with a bag full of clothes if [she's] going to run away? [She's] got a bag full of clothes that she used at the camp, why come home, why not run away directly from school? That doesn't make sense to me," Lottering said.
She believes that someone took her daughter. Lottering also believes that rampant prostitution in Rustenburg might be a reason why someone took her.
Then, just months after Edna disappeared, Lottering's other daughter, Blanche disappeared and soon after her body was found.
Blanche was brutally murdered and her face was removed. "There was a hole where her face was," Lottering said.
She also believes that her daughters’ tragedies are connected, that Blanche might have been taken by the same people who took Edna.
Small comfort
To make matters worse, Rustenburg police apparently lost the case dockets for both investigations. This is after they allegedly blamed Lottering and her husband for their daughters' deaths.
She claims to have also contacted Piet Byleveld for information regarding Edna's disappearance but has not received any feedback from him.
The only comfort that Lottering has is that she knows where Blanche is.
"Some days I'll get up and I’m very depressed and some days I'll feel like running into a wall and some days I can cope."
Lottering said that her husband is finding it equally difficult to deal with his step-daughters’ loss as they were very close and he had cared for them since they were little girls.
"I would do anything to get my girls back.
"I would go to the end of the world if I could just find my child."
If you have any information that could help find Edna or other missing persons, contact Missing Children SA on 072 647 7464.
Find below Lottering's letter to her daughter:
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