A group of people walking along the Aloe hiking trail in Bluewater Bay on Saturday stumbled across a naked three year-old boy and managed to unite him with his family with the help of the police.
Jonna Spano, 30, of Walmer Downs, said the boy had been wearing only slippers.
“We found him in the middle of nowhere along the 7km trail.”
Spano said her fiance, Sean Hess, 46, also of Walmer Downs, had tried to speak to the child in isiXhosa, but he had failed to respond.
“We offered the child something to drink and eat. We then took him with us.”
Spano said at first they had thought it was a trap with someone planning to rob them, but had eventually realised the boy was truly lost.
“We carried him because he seemed a bit dehydrated. He was quite happy to be carried and I think he even enjoyed the ride.”
After leaving the hiking trail, they asked other people to try to speak isiXhosa to him.
“He could just not speak so we took him to the police station, which was actually quite interesting.
“They [police officers] did not seem shocked and came across as being reluctant to take him in.”
The couple then bought him food and water before leaving him at the police station. “We were really concerned about the boy.
“We called [on Sunday] morning and we were told that he had been safely reunited with his family shortly after we had taken him in.
“The cops told us that the boy had got lost while playing in a garden near the Bluewater Bay township while his parents were building a shack.
“The boy supposedly ran into the bushes.
“His parents told the police they tried to follow him but lost sight of him,” Spano said.
They found the boy far from where his parents were building their shack.
“I have no idea how he managed to walk so far on his own. All I know is that I am so glad we found him,” she said.
“We did not see any other hikers along the way and I think if our paths hadn’t crossed he would have had a different fate. What a lucky little boy.”
Police spokesperson Captain Andre Beetge confirmed the child had been taken to the Swartkops police station on Saturday.
“The three-year-old boy went missing around lunchtime from where his parents were erecting a shack at the border of Bluewater Bay.
“He had no clothes on when he was found by hikers who were walking along the trail. They took him to the Swartkops police station.”
He said the child had been reunited with his family 30 minutes after being dropped off at the police station.
“We started our search from the point where he was found and soon after we reunited the boy with his parents.”
He said the boy was not injured and was fortunate to have been be spotted by the hikers.