Murdered Tokai teen's family receive chilling calls

Murdered teenager Franziska Blöchliger’s father has recounted the eerie silent phone calls that he and Franziska's grandfather received from his daughter’s cellphone while driving through the forest where she went missing.

Florian Blöchliger said that a child screaming in the background is all that he could hear on the other end of a phone call that lasted about 30 seconds.

His father also called him to say that he had received a call from Franziska's phone and that he had heard the same thing.

The family’s ordeal began on Monday afternoon when Franziska disappeared while on a 5km run in the forest.

"We kept on phoning her all the time‚ she was running with her iPhone on her arm and earplugs so when the phone rings you'll obviously hear that. So she wasn't answering the phone but the phone was on and ringing all the time‚" Florian said.

"While driving in the middle of the forest‚ all of a sudden the cellphone called me‚ it was my daughter in the back (of the caller ID) and I saw it was Franziska calling so it was a relief that my daughter was here.

"And I shouted ‘Where are you!?’ only to hear children's noises in the back‚ like a screaming child - not my child - somebody else’s child. And after about 30 seconds the phone was put down‚" he said.

"I hysterically got even crazier so I went back immediately and told the police what happened. My father called me and said Franziska's phone also phoned him and the same thing happened to him as well‚" he said.

Sixteen-year-old Franziska's body was found about 25 minutes after the phone calls and the iPhone was later tracked to the nearby suburb of Westlake where police recovered it on Tuesday night.

Three suspects are being detained and questioned by police. The case has now been taken over by a national SAPS task team.

Despite this‚ Florian and his wife Shireen are doubling the reward for information that could lead to their daughter's murderer‚ up to R100‚000. Tokai murder timeline Monday 3pm: Shireen Blöchliger and her daughter Franziska go to the Tokai forest so Franziska can have a run before they fetch her younger sister Sofia from the nearby bus stop. The “half circuit” usually takes about 25 minutes. They have the family dog‚ a golden retriever‚ with them but Franziska prefers to run without it because it will slow her down.

3.30pm: Shireen is concerned that Franziska is not back yet. She thinks she may have done the full circuit but is worried about being late to fetch her other daughter from the bus stop. She calls her husband Florian to tell him she is worried. Florian says he will drive out from the family’s home in Muizenberg to the forest to look for Franziska‚ while Shireen goes to the bus stop.

3.40pm: Florian arrives and drives around the forest route a few times‚ shouting for Franziska. His wife and younger daughter return from the bus stop and join in. They then call police.

3.50pm: Florian receives phone call from his daughter's iPhone while driving through the forest on his scooter. He hears nothing on the other end except for a “screaming child”. His father calls him and tells him that the same has happened to him.

4pm: The Tokai community mobilises a search party.

4.15pm: Florian and Shireen are told by a police councillor that the body of their daughter has been found on the edge of a path close to the road. They are not shown their daughter's body‚ which was apparently brutally beaten. It is believed she was strangled.

Tuesday 6pm: A mass silent memorial is held in Tokai forest and hundreds of people from the community‚ as well as family and friends‚ walk through the forest in mourning.

9pm: Police track Franziska's phone to Westlake. Later that night three suspects are detained.