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 2022.
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 already 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 mysteriously vanished after leaving her home in Genadendal.
She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
Previously, police confirmed that Jantjies’ adopted son, Gershwin Jantjies, 36, was arrested in January 2022 after their home was set alight.
The house was the same residence where Jantjies lived at the time of her disappearance.
Jantjies’ husband, Freddie Jantjies, 78, died in August 2021 after suffering a stroke and had been recovering from Cancer.
Debbie Hartzenberg, TNT Search member, said they were focusing on the trails that Jantjies used to walk.
They are presently continuing their search.
“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,” she said.
The search began on Saturday, September 10.
“When we searched there on Saturday, we found a pair of pants. The pants were nearly rotten already. I took it that it might be evidence. We resumed our search in the week.
“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 into 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 now new evidence or information on the case, and we have received no feedback from the police.”