Can you help find her family?

Melinda Borcherds who lives in Geraldton, Western Australia, is looking for her family in Krugersdorp.

Melinda is appealing to the community to help her find the only link she has to her father’s family – a woman by the name of Muriel Howard, who is the daughter of one of four Howard sons, which makes Muriel and Melinda’s father, Alec Campbell-Howard, cousins. Muriel is said to be living in Krugersdorp.

Melinda’s father is the son of Clyde Cecil Howard who was killed in a car accident. Her grandmother, Mercia, died in 1970.

“I remember going to visit Thuijs and Muriel on a farm outside of Krugersdorp in the late 70’s if memory serves me correctly, as my father had already passed away. My mum thought their surname may be Van Groene or Van Gruen but I thought their last name was Redlinghuis,” she told the News.

The 51-year-old says that although she does not remember all of the details because she was still a child, she has a few memories of her childhood and the people she wants to trace.

“Thuijs took us caving somewhere on the outskirts of Krugersdorp in what looked like an open field where we dropped into the ground. I don’t recall it being a mine shaft but a cave that we scrambled around in. It was quite close to town but we did not travel through town to get there. When we did drive in to town, we entered via a street that had a few muti-shops as I think we visited one of them,” she told the News.

Melinda said that her family emigrated to Zimbabwe and because they had little contact with her father’s side of the family, not much information was passed down to her and her siblings.

“This is the only connection I have to my paternal family and I am interested in tracing my family tree,” said Melinda.

If you have any information that can help Melinda, you can email her at melinda@node1.com.au.

Related articles:

A family is missing and the town is in chaos

Another Krugersdorp girl missing

Missing woman found in Japan