Update

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The 14-year-old girl reported as missing from her father's home in Dana Bay on Monday, 10 December, was later found unscathed in George.

The spokesperson for the KwaNonqaba police, Sgt Kapp confirmed that the child, Grace Jardine, was traced to George where she was left overnight in the care of family.

News that a child had gone missing sent shockwaves through the Mossel Bay community and quickly had social media abuzz.

According to reports Grace left home at approximately 01:00 on Monday morning. No confirmed information on the reasons for her behaviour is available.

The girl's father filed a missing person report and the KwaNonqaba police and members of the Unit for Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) as well as the Langeberg K9 unit embarked on a thorough search.

The latest incident followed a previous case in which the same young girl was reported missing in August after she failed to return home from school. She was then also found and safely returned home.

Do not delay
Sergeant Kapp again urged family and friends of missing persons to immediately contact their nearest police station.

"Fill out the SAPS 55 form at the police station to report a missing person. Help can also be obtained from the FCS unit in Adriaans Drive, Asla Park.

"Do not hesitate; there is no need to wait for any amount of time before reporting a person missing."

He added that the network of dedicated police officers, neighbourhood watch members and community police forum members had a far greater chance of tracing a missing person if the report was made sooner rather than later.

While social media has proved to be invaluable in tracing missing persons because it is an immediate medium with wide impact, authorities dealing with missing persons warn against wild, unfounded rumours that are quickly spread since information is seldom corroborated or checked for facts.

In this case misleading information that the missing child was found, hindered the search. The police ask that well meaning contributors to facebook and whatsapp groups should refrain from commenting unless the information or comment they share will materially contribute to the search operation.