Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Search for missing 78-year-old goes on
A MISSING person’s organisation has not given up on Lorraine Jantjies, 78, who vanished mysteriously in February 2021 and has begun digging for clues using their own dogs in Genadendal.
This is not the first time that Track n Trace teams have carried out a search where Jantjies used to walk every day.
Months later, the team continued their search, starting on Saturday, September 10.
The entire week they found themselves knee-deep in mud and in the pouring rain, walking through bush, rivers and veld.
So far, a pair of pants, which had rotted due to its age, has been found by the team.
They are now hoping their dogs will point them in the right direction after a forensic search by police last year led to a dead end.
Jantjies vanished after leaving her home in Genadendal. She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
Police confirmed Jantjies’ adopted son, Gershwin Jantjies, 36, was arrested in January 2022 after their home was set alight.
The house was where Jantjies lived at the time of her disappearance.
Jantjies’ husband, Freddie Jantjies, 78, died in August 2021 after suffering a stroke.
Debbie Hartzenberg, a Track n Trace search member, said they were focusing on the trails that Jantjies used to walk.
“The area that we are focusing on in the search for Grandmother Lorraine, we call this area The Bompie. This is the first time that we are searching there, where we are actually digging,”
“We have taken our own dogs with us, which began digging on certain parts.
“We want to see where the dogs go, and we will dig there.”
Chaz Thomas from Track n Trace said they had focused on areas which were familiar to Jantjies.
“Due to heavy rain, we couldn’t search for more than an hour on Sunday. No new leads.
“We concentrated on areas we didn’t search yet.
“We searched Kloof, which is a bushy area. She used to enjoy taking long walks. We searched the dam, the river, and forensics did a thorough search also.
The organisation relies on donations for their searches.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg said there had been no leads in the case and that “the missing person is yet to be found”.
Jantjies’ nephew, Albert Adams, said the case remained stagnant and was aware of the search that was being conducted.
“I could, unfortunately, not attend the search operations with Track n Trace,” he said.
“There is no new evidence or information on the case, and we have received no feedback from the police.”