Urgent search for kidnapped granny
Woman, 71, driven off in boot of car by robbers
Asearch is on for an abducted Sterkstroom grandmother, who was forced into the boot of her car and driven off by two robbers who attacked her family at home on Monday.
The daughter of missing 71-yearold Denise Bartlett, DA Enoch Mgijima councillor Lindy Bartlett-Haggard, said late yesterday: “The car was found at the Amberdale crossing 3km outside of Komani this morning.
“There was no sign of my mother.”
Bartlett-Haggard said the robbers had not communicated with the family.
Her mother was wearing shorts, a shirt and sandals.
Police have appealed to the public for assistance.
Komani cluster commander Major-General Funeka Siganga asked people to call 08600-10111.
His spokeswoman, Captain Namhla Mdleleni, said Bartlett was taken at 7pm on Monday.
“She was with her granddaughter when two armed men entered their house.
“They attacked them, assaulted them and took an undisclosed amount of money.
“They took Bartlett and used her lime-green Chevrolet car to get away,” she said.
The police had formed a task team for the search, Mdleleni said.
“A case of kidnapping and house robbery has been opened.”
Family and friends took to social media to spread the word, pleading with the public to call Lindy Bartlett-Haggard on 082-398-4367 or Jayme Haggard on 078-264-5046.
The family owns a filling station in the Eastern Cape town.
Bartlett-Haggard said the thugs had demanded “the money”.
She said her mother, Denise, was with her granddaughter and the granddaughter’s boyfriend.
The young man noticed two armed men hiding under a table.
“They got out and pointed a gun at them, demanding money,” she said.
“They beat them and tied them.
“When I arrived with my elder daughter, they took my phone and ordered us to go to the toilet or they would shoot my mother.”
They were then locked in the toilet. The attackers left with the money and some meat.
“They forced my mother into the boot,” Bartlett-Haggard said.
“My daughter used her phone which she’d kept in her bra to call the police, who arrived about an hour later. The men had already gone.”
She said she feared for her mother and did not know what the thugs might have done to her.
Mdleleni confirmed Bartlett’s car was found early yesterday.
‘ The car was found at the Amberdale crossing . . . outside of Komani