Missing Greenhills girl returned home

A 15-year-old girl who was reported missing by her mother was found unscathed in Greenhills on 7 August after nearly four days on the run.

The girl was found hiding with what is now suspected to be her 32-year-old boyfriend at a house in Greenhills Avenue on Thursday night.

According to the girl’s mother, the family was living at in a flat in the house, which has been sub-divided into separate units by the owner, when she became aware of what she suspected was a romantic relationship between her daughter and a 32-year-old neighbour.

“She started behaving strangely,” says the mother, who as beside herself with worry upon her visit to the Herald offices just before the girl was found on Thursday night.

“I know my daughter and her behaviour didn’t make any sense to me.

“I even caught her sneaking out one night after midnight to go to him.

“She started spending more and more time with the neighbour and at one point, I found her with what appeared to be empty drug packets.

“When I asked her about them she said they belonged to the neighbour.”

According to the woman, the trouble started after she realised that she needed to take some decisive steps to keep her daughter away from the man.

“I decided that distance was the only thing that would keep her away so I decided to move.

“I informed her of my decision and after having a fallout about it, I thought she had given in.

“She packed all her clothes and we started moving.

“When I got to the house to collect my daughter and the last of our belongings, she had vanished.”

The woman says that she searched everywhere and even asked the neighbour if he had seen her.

“He said he did not know where she was.

I contacted the police who advised me to wait a day before reporting her missing as she might just be with friends, as this is common behaviour for teenagers.”

The next day, she went to the police station and opened a missing persons case.

She also told police about her suspicions that her daughter might be with the neighbour.

Police went to his house but did not find her.

Reports started coming in from friends who said that they saw the girl driving around town with the neighbour on his motorcycle.

The woman confronted the neighbour via SMS and the two ended up exchanging a number of angry SMS messages.

The Herald is in possession of sms messages in which the man hints at having had sex with the girl.

He also stated that he loves her, but denied that he knew where she was, or that she was with him.

Eventually, when the girl did not turn up by the third day, the mother, out of desperation, contacted the Herald.

After leaving the Herald offices on Thursday night, she decided on an impulse to drive by the house, and when she arrived there, decided to check in on the neighbour.

As she reached the front door, she saw her daughter sitting on the couch.

“The man jumped up, swore at me and slammed the door in my face,” says the woman.

“I immediately phoned the Herald, who arranged for a contact at the Child Protection Unit to meet us at the house.”

Upon police’s arrival at the scene, the man initially denied any knowledge of the girl’s whereabouts, but a search of the premises yielded results and the girl was found and released into her mother’s custody.

The man was not arrested and it is at this stage unclear whether the man will be arrested and charged with statutory rape.

Watch this space as this story develops.