After an almost two-day nightmare for a family whose little boy was allegedly abducted in Summerstrand, he was joyfully reunited with them after being found in a shack in Walmer on Sunday.
The jubilant three-year-old, who had been missing since Friday after disappearing with a stranger, ran straight into the outstretched arms of his crying grandmother at the Dora Nginza Hospital where she and his mother had gone after being contacted by police.
He had been found by police shortly beforehand, unharmed and with his alleged abductor, after the investigating officer had received tip-offs from the public.
“The nightmare is over – it’s a happy ending,” his mother Chandre, 27, said with tears rolling down her cheeks at her Bethelsdorp home, as her son was hugging his overjoyed grandmother Lucinda, 52.
The full identities of his mother and grandmother have been withheld to protect the child’s identity.
The little boy was in Lucinda’s care when he was snatched by a woman at the beach in Summerstrand.
His alleged abductor, a 25year-old woman who was traced by police to Walmer, was arrested and is expected to appear in court on Monday.
Lucinda said she regretted trusting a stranger – whom they had met at the beach – with her grandchild.
“We arrived at the beach at about 11am [on Friday] and we were going to meet Chandre there, but by 1pm she had still not arrived,” Lucinda said.
“In the meantime we met this lady and she was so friendly – I thought I could trust her with the child.”
At about 6pm, she sent the woman to buy cigarettes at a nearby store.
She said her grandchild had really taken a liking to the stranger who had been playing with him on the beach, so she allowed him to go with her.
“It was just across the street and I thought nothing of it when the child went with this woman to the store.
“She was with us the whole day and she was so friendly – I didn’t know she was not going to return with the child.”
After a while Lucinda went to look for the stranger.
“I could not find her anywhere. I asked people in and outside the store whether they’d seen this woman and the child. She seemed to have just disappeared. I was crying and I was so panicked.”
Chandre said her mother had called her on Friday evening to alert her.
“I could not believe it,” Chandre said.
“I wanted to throw myself off the pier because I could not handle it.
“I was just thinking about my child and whether wherever he was, he was okay.
“It is a scary situation to be in because I was wondering if my child was being fed, if he was somewhere safe and warm – all of those things went through my mind.
“I had a nightmare that I found him in the bushes with his body cold and with a cut on his head and his neck purplish.
“In the dream he had on the same clothes he wore on Friday when he was kidnapped,” the young mother said, her voice trembling.
“I just thank God that the nightmare is over now. It’s a happy ending for us.”
Lucinda said: “When you’re in that situation your mind is flooded with negative thoughts and ‘what-if’s’. I could not sleep, I could not eat – all I did was think of him. I thought I was going to go crazy.
“I had to say to myself not to think about it too much and just to remain positive that we would find the child alive.”
The mother and grandmother were on Sunday taken to Dora Nginza Hospital where the little boy had been taken for a medical examination.
“They [police] didn’t tell us anything. We were just taken to Dora Nginza Hospital – I was praying to God that we were not being taken to hospital to go and identify his body or something.
“I don’t know what I would’ve done,” Chandre said.
“But luckily, when we arrived at the hospital I just saw him run right past me into my mother’s arms.
“She was crying and I was crying, but it was happy tears. We could not believe it. I really thank God that my child was found alive and well.”
A neighbour, who had been at the house, said: “We also have to thank the police for their hard work.
“I mean, they’ve managed to track down that woman so quickly.”
Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said the child had been found in a shack in Victoria Park Drive on Sunday.
“The investigating officer, Captain Nomawethu Machewula, received several calls from the public about possible sightings of the suspect and the child.
“At about 10.45am a team of detectives including the commander from the FCS [Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences] unit were making inquiries in the vicinity in Victoria Park Drive when they made a breakthrough,” she said.
“The child was found with the suspect in a shack deep in the bushes in Victoria Park Drive.”
Naidu said that according to the suspect, she could not find the child’s grandmother after returning from the shop.
“[But] she could not give a reasonable explanation as to why she didn’t contact the police,” Naidu said.
“The child was taken to hospital for a medical examination and apart from being malnourished, he was fine. He has been reunited with his family.
“The police would like to express their appreciation and gratitude to the community and media for their unwavering assistance.”
The toddler’s mother said: “I am not letting him out of my sight ever again and he’s definitely never going to the beach with my mother again.”