Johannesburg - “Mom, Fadiel said he will chop me up and put me in a Pikitup (dustbin) and you will never find me. Then he will come for you because I am dependent on you.”
This is what young Nicolette Albertyn allegedly told her mother, Janet Abrahams, after she received threats from her husband.
Alarmed, the mother diarised her daughter’s words.
It was on February 12 last year, and a month later, Albertyn went missing.
Fourteen months later, her family are desperately seeking answers as police seem to have hit a brick wall in finding her.
Her disappearance has also split the family. After she disappeared, Fadiel took Abrahams to the Family Court, fighting for custody of his and Albertyn’s six-year-old daughter. The little girl had been staying with Abrahams since she was four months old when Albertyn went back to work after maternity leave.
However, Abrahams challenged him and won custody. Since then, Fadiel has been out of their lives, Abrahams said. “I last saw him in September.”
The Star tried to speak to Fadiel about his wife’s last moments, but both his last known numbers went straight to voicemail.
On Friday March 13 last year, Albertyn and Fadiel were at Abrahams's Bellavista house.
Before going home, she gave Abrahams money to buy her a comforter. She also gave her older sister money to buy boots for her (Albertyn’s) daughter.
The following day, Abrahams called to find out what colour comforter she wanted. She could not reach her.
Abrahams said Fadiel later called her and asked if she was with Albertyn. She wasn't.
Each Sunday, Albertyn would go to her mother’s house and do her daughter’s laundry.
However, she failed to arrive that day and Abrahams knew that something was wrong.
Fadiel later arrived and told them that Albertyn had never come home from work the previous day. Abrahams said her eldest daughter had called Albertyn’s work but was told that she had not shown up, although Fadiel had called in the morning to say she would be late. Police were informed.
They searched the nearby mine dumps with the help of dogs, but Albertyn was never found. They also looked for her in Soweto, Eldorado Park and Jeppestown because Fadiel had allegedly told the police that she may be there.
Forensic detectives found spatters of blood in the bedroom, which was later taken for tests and found to be hers. However, they could still not find her.
Albertyn’s brother-in-law, Donivon Esterhuizen, said the 37-year-old woman was in an abusive relationship and her neighbours also told them that they used to hear her scream.
They said they had heard her scream on Friday, March 13, followed by silence, and then Fadiel had started screaming, Esterhuizen said.
Abrahams said she knew of the abuse and had tried to get her daughter out of the marriage. “I was determined to help her leave him but she loved him too much,” Abrahams said.
Spokeswoman for the Booysens police Warrant OfficerLorraine van Emmerick confirmed that Albertyn had opened domestic abuse cases against her husband.
She also said investigations into Albertyn’s disappearance were taking place, and although someone was taken in for questioning, there were no leads.
“We appeal to anyone with information to come forward,” she said.
In the meantime, a shattered Abrahams said all she needed was closure as she did not know what to tell her granddaughter about her mother’s disappearance.
Although she has resigned herself to the fact that her daughter is dead, she can’t bring herself to use the comforter. It is still sealed, and looking at it sometimes gives her hope. “I still have hope that she will come back home and use it,” she said.
The Star