Plea of missing woman’s mother

THE mother of a 19-year-old mother of two who mysteriously vanished seven years ago while visiting a local mall to purchase a cellphone believes she is alive and is appealing for her to come home or give her closure that she is well and not in danger.

Tameron Flatwell disappeared on February 6, 2015, while travelling via taxi from Capricorn to Retreat taxi rank and was en route to Blue Route Mall but never arrived at her destination.

It is believed Flatwell was given a lift by an older man at Retreat taxi rank who drove a silver Audi and who was well-known to the family. The man died three years ago.

Flatwell is mother to two children, aged 7 and 9, who are in the care of their paternal grandmother.

Flatwell’s mother, Gail Morris, 44, who runs a local early Childhood Development

Centre in Vrygrond, Capricorn, is appealing for her daughter to come home to contact her and let her know that she is safe and unharmed.

Flatwell had been living with her boyfriend, Clarence Rossouw, in Hanover Park at the time of her disappearance and had visited Capricorn where she left her 3-month-old baby with her family to run an errand at the Blue Route Mall.

Morris said there were many stories circulating at the time, that Flatwell also had a “sugar daddy” who was over 60 and has since died and that she just needed closure.

“Her one son lived with me at the time because he attended the crèche and the baby lived with her in Hanover Park,” said Morris. “She brought the baby to my husband and said she is going to Blue Route Mall … It was her boyfriend who opened up a missing persons case and came and told me that she never arrived back home.”

The children have since been placed in the care of the father and his family and sees their grandmother during the holidays.

Morris said he later learnt that her daughter had been involved in another relationship before her disappearance.

“I was at the police station several times and I was told that she is a grown person and that they cannot force her if she doesn't want to come back,” said the mother. “My child loved her child but I know she wasn’t an angel, there was a third person in her relationship, a sugar daddy who is now dead three years already.

Morris said she had a deep belief that her child was still alive.

“I am just wanting closure, if she reads this to please contact me to let me know that she is okay, I will not force her and I just want peace of mind that she is alive and well.”

Beverley Franzen, who is the grandmother of Flatwell’s sons and the mother of her boyfriend, said they had done an extensive search for her and believed the answers could be with the older man she had last been seen with on the day she vanished.

“My son and the family had placed flyers up inside taxis at Retreat Station and spoke to two sisters who said they saw her get into a silver Audi with an older man and she was never seen again,” she said.

“This person would often give her R500, or even hundreds of rands and they had a close relationship.

“I am very heartbroken because I can see the sadness in my grandchildren as their mother is missing and we miss her very much, she was like a daughter to me.”

Mymoena Scholtz, the founder of the NGO organisation, Where Rainbows Meet, in Vrygrond and an activist for women and children’s rights, said she was giving the mother her full support in her quest and appealing for all organisations and role players to work together.

“It is seven painful years for a mother, someone must know something,” she said.

“To not know where your child is, is a nightmare for a mother.

“All missing persons organisations must work together to help bring closure for many families like this, and I give my full support to this mother who needs closure.”

The case is also in the hands of Missing Children SA.

Missing Children SA can be contacted on 072 647 7464 or Muizenberg Police on 021 787 9000.

DISAPPEARED... Tameron Flatwell.