Eighty-five children missing over festive season

Eighty-five children have been reported missing since the beginning of the festive season.

There was a slight increase to the number of children reported missing for the month of December, Lieutenant colonel Stephanus van Deventer told the Saturday Star.

However, he added that the number of children missing this year was lower than in the previous year, it was reported today.

Van Deventer is the section commander for the SA Police Services bureau for missing children.

He said that more than a thousand children had been reported missing over the past year, about 60% of them were girls.

Twelve children were also abducted last year.

“We must keep in mind that some of these abductions were family abductions, which means that the child was taken by a non-custodial parent after a divorce,” Van Deventer said.

– Sapa