Eighteen years ago a mother’s heart was about to break. Her daughter was missing and her world would soon be turned upside down.
This is the story of Tracy Thompson.
If you are a true crime junkie like me, you probably listen to the podcast True Crime South Africa. If you haven’t yet, be sure to check it out.
If it wasn’t for this podcast hosted by Nicole Engelbrecht, I would never have known about Tracy’s case. I have listened to over 100 of these episodes but the injustice of this case remains with me.
On Friday, March 11 in 2005 Tracy’s car was found abandoned near Thembisa, the keys still in the ignition. The police informed her mother, Carol, that no violence was suspected and that she could collect the car that same day. It would seem that no evidence was taken from the car.
Tracy’s housemates and friends told Carol that Tracy had not come home the previous night.
When Carol realised that her daughter was missing, she opened a missing person case with the police.
The police officer told Carol that they didn’t need a photo of Tracy, Carol convinced the officer that they would need the photo and he said that she could drop the photo off at the station.
Arriving at the police station hours later with the photo in hand, Carol was shocked to learn that no one knew about her missing daughter.
Carol was informed that the case would only be allocated to a detective the following Monday as they only work office hours.
Tracy’s case was allocated to a captain and unfortunately, this captain would provide the same incompetence as the rest of the police that Carol had dealt with.
Nine days later Carol received the dreadful call to inform her that a body had been found the previous day. It matched the description of Tracy.
Carol was informed that an autopsy had been done, samples were sent to their lab, a rape kit had been done and, that the cause of death was strangulation.
Months later, still waiting for the police samples to reveal anything, Carol contacted a private pathologist who agreed to do a second post-mortem.
This doctor would soon discover that there had been no post-mortem done on Tracy, no tissue samples were taken, no rape kit had been done and, shockingly, the evidence was either missing or damaged.
I find myself wondering how much disappointment one family can endure.
The police never took statements from these housemates even though they were the last ones to see Tracy alive.
After many complaints lodged by Carol and many empty promises by the police, the Thompson family is still waiting to find out what happened to their beloved Tracy, still waiting for closure.
About the author: Monique Botha is a divorced mother of two and has been living on the South Coast for five years. She completed her higher certificate in criminal justice and is in her final year of completing her bachelor’s degree in criminology. She believes in lifelong learning and is proof that one is never too old to make your dreams a reality.
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