News24 | Surge in people reported missing in Nelson Mandela Bay

• Several people have gone missing in Nelson Mandela Bay over the past few months.
• A missing person's organisation says the number of missing teens has increased.
• One teenager has been found dead, while several remain missing.

At least 10 people in Nelson Mandela Bay have disappeared over the past few months. 

Traumatised family members are taking to social media in a desperate attempt to find their missing loved ones.

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The founder of missing person's NPO Missing They Wrote, Chaplain Bernadine Wilken, said there had been a surge in teenagers going missing in the metro.

Wilken added while this did not apply to all, some teenagers did a "disappearing trick", but quickly returned home once missing posters started to circulate.

She said there were still multiple active missing cases for adults, but the number of adults going missing in the Bay had stayed the same.

"We have had some serious matters of missing people in the metro, such as Carla Groenewald, 39, who went missing and was found dead with a bullet wound to the head," Wilken added.

While most victims in the cases reported are still missing, 12-year-old Luniko Nikelo, was found in a derelict building, not far from his New Brighton home, on Wednesday after he vanished on Monday.

Luniko, who is on the autism spectrum, disappeared after his scholar transport dropped him at home.

His uncle, Ntsikelelo Seti, said Luniko came inside and later asked if he could go to his father's house, which is about 15 minutes away on foot.

The uncle said yes, and Luniko, still in his school uniform, left the house at around 15:00.

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Seti added when Luniko did not return home, his mother, Tumeka Nikelo, was frantic and worried.

"I was so shocked when I heard Luniko was missing. We were all so worried," he said.

Eastern Cape police spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel Siphokazi Mawisa, said the boy was found in a broken-down building in the same neighbourhood.

"He was found safe and sound," Mawisa added but did not provide further information on the circumstances surrounding Luniko's disappearance.

On Thursday, Tumeka told News24 Luniko was "okay and not hurt" but did not elaborate on her son's condition.

All she was prepared to say was:

The search for Groenewald ended tragically when her badly decomposed body was found on a field in Bethelsdorp last week.

She had been missing for more than three weeks.

Mawisa said the 39-year-old woman died of a gunshot wound to the head.

According to a police report, Groenewald left her house in Jacksonville at 22:00 and did not tell her husband where she was going.

The husband called her friends and family, but no one knew where she was.

Separately, another tragic tale unfolded for the Welcome family when husband and wife Greyton and Lalacha Welcome disappeared without a trace from their apartment in Gqeberha a month ago.

They were finally found by a relative on Wednesday after Greyton's mother, Cheryldene Welcome-Talmakies, made a plea on social media for help to find them.

"We found them, but things are not going very well with them. It seems like they are living on the streets," she said.

"I was very concerned when I stopped hearing from them. A friend of mine is making plans to take them in. I am so happy that they are safe."

Wilken said there were various reasons people go missing, and it varied from case to case, but societal pressure could be a contributing factor for men deciding to disappear.

"I think the pressure of everyday life plays a big part in why men have gone missing in the last months," she added.

"My advice to the public is not to waste time, whatever you think the reason may be. Open a case immediately if your loved one has gone missing."

Meanwhile, the police are still searching for an elderly man who disappeared on his way to his sister's house in Schauderville on 15 July.

Alfred de Klerk, 76, left at 10:00 but never arrived at his sister's home. At the time of his disappearance, he was wearing black pants, a cream jacket, black shoes, and a black hat.

Police are also trying to find Joclyne Swarts, 20, who was last seen leaving home in Bethelsdorp two weeks ago. Her parents reported her missing on Monday.

When she left the house, she wore a pink jersey, green shirt with long sleeves, pink jeans, and dark-coloured sandals.

Still missing are Theodore Frisley, 40, who was last seen at the Gqeberha Harbour in November 2022, and Darryl Beukes, 48, who was last spotted at Spar in Summerstrand in December last year.

Two elderly, frail victims are also missing: Nontsikelo Nqina, who has dementia, disappeared from KwaDwesi in June 2022, and Petrus de Lange, who is partially blind and disoriented, went missing in February this year.