Police and community search for Lotus Gardens missing girl (15)

Fulufhelo Jennifer Nemataheni, a 15-year-old teenage girl from Lotus Gardens, Pretoria West, went missing on her way to school on Tuesday morning, May 17.

She is a Grade 9 learner at Flavius Mareka High School in Saulsville, Atteridgeville.

Fulufhelo was last seen at a bus stop by two of her friends whom she usually boards the bus with, said her father Petrus Nemataheni.

Petrus said the two friends told him Fulufhelo didn’t get onto the school bus with them on that day, but stayed at the bus stop when the bus arrived.

Her friends asked her why she refused to get on the bus, but she would not give a reason.

“She left her phone at home on that day, so we couldn’t even get a hold of her.

“We have also since received some calls from community members claiming to have seen someone like her around, but that wasn’t the case,” he said.

“We were also told that a car picked up a child, who was in her full school uniform, and transported her to the hospital after she fainted on the street.

“We then went to the hospital but we didn’t find her,” he said.

Petrus added that the family only noticed that she was missing that evening when she hadn’t returned home yet.

He said they opened a missing child case at the Pretoria West police station.

The Lotus Gardens community has since shown great support to the family.

Petrus said there have been meetings with community members who are doing their best to help the family in searching everywhere for Fulufhelo.

“In the meeting, community members promised to search “dodgy” areas suspected to have drug dealers and other kinds of criminals,” he said.

Petrus said Fulufhelo was not coping “at all”.

He claimed he hasn’t received any support from the school.

“I didn’t receive a single call from the school wanting to know about my daughter’s whereabouts.

“I don’t know what to feel anymore because my daughter is not one to misbehave.

“She is well-mannered and she is always indoors watching TV or busy on her computer,” he said.

Fulufhelo’s family urged anyone with information on her whereabouts to contact 082 410 7703 or contact the Pretoria West SAPS on 012 327 4907.

The police could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press.

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