Missing Hout Bay boy found under boat

Published May 20, 2015

Share

Cape Town - It’s not often that stories of missing children come with happy endings. But, in the case of 7-year-old Byron Baron, it was the best conclusion his grandmother could have asked for.

Little Byron was reunited with his loved ones just a day after he disappeared.

He went missing when he left his grandmother’s house to visit his other grandmother at about 4pm in Hangberg, near Hout Bay.

He was last seen by residents in the streets at around 8pm.

What happened to Byron on Monday night remains unclear, but it’s believed he might have been chased by someone.

Hout Bay police’s Warrant Officer Tanya Lesch said the boy told her he was chased and found a place to hide.

It wasn’t until Tuesday afternoon that he was found, having spent the night in his hiding place.

Eight-year-old Cassidy Braaf was returning home from school when she heard faint knocking coming from inside an overturned fibreglass fishing boat in her parent’s front yard in Hangberg.

The little girl immediately fetched her older brother to help her lift the boat. At around 1pm, little Byron emerged from under the boat - unharmed, but shaken up.

“When I came back from school I heard a knock inside the boat and when I looked I saw the boy who people were looking for last night,” said Cassidy.

Police and volunteers who banded together were conducting a briefing when a resident who lives close to the Braaf’s house came running to inform them that Byron - who was reported missing on Monday night - had been found.

Police spokeswoman Constable Noloyiso Rwexana said it could now be confirmed that a 7-year-old boy, who was reported

missing on Monday was found on Tuesday afternoon by other children in Hangberg.

“According to the reports, the child was found hiding under a boat and unharmed,” said Rwexana.

She added that they would like to thank the community of Hout Bay and surrounding areas for their assistance during the search.

The boy and his grandmother, with whom he lives, are receiving counselling at the Hout Bay police station.

Hout Bay Civic Association’s Roscoe Jacobs said in a statement that the association would wish to thank the police, CPF and the residents “for their swift action when a child went missing” and that time “is of critical importance”.

“This has shown that together the community and the police can move Hout Bay forward,” he added.

Meanwhile, the community of Hanover Park is still searching for missing six-year-old Shasha-Lee November.

Rwexana said: “Their has been no developments on Shasha-Lee. The search for her is still on.”

She went missing from her parents’ home in Hanover Park on May 3 at about 4pm.

She was last seen playing in Groenal Walk, in the area.

Shasha-Lee is small-built, one metre in height, has a small nose, thin lips, small ears and a burn mark on the cheek. She has reddish- brown plaited hair.

She was dressed in white shorts, white T-shirt and green slippers when she disappeared.

Hanover Park Civil Association’s Igshaan Nazier said the search for Shasha-Lee is still ongoing. “We don’t have any leads on her whereabouts, and the community is very angry because we are going into a third week now and want answers from the SAPS.”

Nazier added that at first they had close to 400 people helping with the search but numbers were dwindling. Nazier said there are only about 40 left in the search party because people have given up hope.

* Anyone with information can contact Detective Constable Keith Wakefield on 083 471 4716/021 376 9850.

kalipa@[email protected]

Cape Argus

Related Topics: