Search slows for missing Norwegian
Family prays and have not given up hope their daughter will be found alive, writes Luke Folb DA accused of ‘pack of lies’ to forest community
ATLE Ostbo, father of missing Norwegian student Marie Ostbo, sits by his phone waiting for news of his daughter who went missing on a beach in Sedgefield, along the Garden Route.
Ostbo refuses to give up hope that Marie will be found even though police took a decision this week to scale down search operations.
“We know there are people all over the world praying that Marie is alive and will be found alive. As long as there is hope there is life,” he said.
Ostbo shares these sentiments with his wife Anna and older daughter, Helene.
The family live in Stavanger, Norway and described Marie as a warm-hearted person. “Marie is a beautiful young lady who has a burning heart for those who do not feel so good in society. She is a happy person who had plans for a long time to come,” said Ostbo.
Marie, 21, went missing on Wednesday, April 18 at Myoli Beach in Sedgefield. CCTV footage shows her leaving the Pilipili restaurant by herself at around 6.15pm, where she was having dinner with her tour group.
Marie is studying political science at the University of Toulouse, France and travelled with a friend from the same university for a six-day Garden Route trip.
According to the NSRI at around 6pm some of the group went for a walk on the beach and then returned at around 7pm. Marie was last seen on the beach around this time wearing blue jeans and a white shirt standing about 100 metres from the backpackers where they were staying.
After the other group noticed she had not returned with them they returned to the beach to search for her but were unsuccessful. NSRI Wilderness and Community Police joined the search at 7.40pm.
“The last time I communicated with Marie was the day before she disappeared. We exchanged pictures. I, from what was going on at home, and she sent me pictures from her safari in South Africa. We chatted with each other about how things were,” said Ostbo.
He said one of the theories which had been communicated to him was that Marie had gone into the water and might have been swept away by the current.
However, he said he believed that Marie had been abducted.
“I’m sure that Marie would never have gone bathing… I have, from the first moment when I got a phone call from Sea Rescue on Wednesday night, thought that Marie would never have done it. Police spokesperson Captain Malcolm Pojie confirmed that her cellphone, sandals and a cap were found neatly placed on the sand at the beach with no other evidence.
He also confirmed that two men were questioned and cleared of any wrongdoing by authorities after they were seen speaking to his daughter on CCTV footage.
After intense searches by local police, NSRI Wilderness, community policing forums, emergency services, a volunteer paraglider and more, the decision was made on Thursday to scale down the search efforts with a missing person docket opened.
“We still appeal to the surrounding communities to be on the lookout for the missing lady,” said Pojie.
Anyone with information can call the investigation officer at the Knysna SAPS at 044 203 6600 or Crime Stop at 08600 10111. THE DA’S Kwazulu-natal leader, Zwakele Mncwango, is accused of spreading a “pack of lies” in a desperate bid to win support amid the Dukuduku community on the boundary of the isimangaliso Wetland Park.
Visiting the forest-dwelling community in north-east KZN to mark Freedom Day, Mncwango vowed to fight the government over alleged plans to turn people off the land and incorporate the area into isimangaliso World Heritage Site.
Sihle Zikalala, ANC provincial interim committee co-ordinator and MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, slammed Mncwango’s claims, calling them a “pack of lies”.
“There’s no plan to remove people from the umkhanyakude area to extend the isimangaliso Wetland Park,” said Zikalala. “I am responsible for the department and isimangaliso is under us. If the DA wants to get popularity they must be honest and tell the truth. I don’t know where he (Mncwango) gets that from because it is non-existent, it’s lies.”
People have been living in the forest for years but still do not have access to running water and electricity. It was formerly a state forest, in the apartheid era.
Mncwango said the incumbent government, in its bid to remove the community, was applying apartheid government tactics, which were laced with arrogance.
“It can’t be right in democracy that you people are being removed from your own land and you’ve got a proposal from government that says people must now lease land to the government. That’s not going to happen on our watch and we have to fight for the interests of these people,” said Mncwango.