Search for missing 77-year-old Northern Cape man ends in tragedy
Batlharos police said missing 77-year-old Ontlametse Matsime, last seen in Gasehunelo near Kuruman, was found deceased during a community-assisted search.
Image: Supplied / SAPS
NORTHERN Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Merapelo Pilane has confirmed that a week-long search for a missing elderly man from the Kuruman area has ended in tragedy.
Police in Batlharos said Ontlametse Matsime, 77, who was reported missing after disappearing in Gasehunelo village, was found deceased during a search operation involving both officers and local community members.
Matsime was last seen on Friday, January 9, after he reportedly visited a neighbour in Gasehunelo but never made it back home. When he was first reported missing, police appealed to the public for assistance and circulated Matsime’s picture, along with a description of the clothes he was believed to have been wearing at the time.
In an update, the police said the search led to a grim discovery in the veld near Gasehunelo, where community members and police officials found Matsime’s body on January 17.
Police expressed appreciation to everyone who assisted in the search.
Sergeant Pilane again urged residents to report missing persons immediately, stressing that “there is no waiting period to report a person missing.”
Anyone who may have information linked to missing-person cases can contact their nearest police station, use the MySAPS app, or call Crime Stop on 08600 10111.