'I have eternal hope... wherever she is, she is cared for'
|Published
Renata Ismail has been missing since March 1999. Renata Ismail has been missing since March 1999.
It's been 18 years since Renata Ismail, 4, vanished from her mother's bedroom. Her mother says faith, prayer and eternal hope has kept her going since the fateful day.
The petite little girl with black hair disappeared in March 1999 after her mother, Heidi, had left her in the main bedroom of their Sarepta home, Kuil River, for five minutes.
Heidi says she saw an unknown man at the window and left in a hurry to tell her sister-in-law about him. It’s believed that the man abducted Renata.
It's been a heartbreaking journey for the Ismail family.
Heidi is still extremely emotional when she talks about that fateful day. “The news was so devastating. I just continuously pray,” she told the Cape Argus.
“I have eternal hope and I find great solace in the grace and promise of God.
“And I know wherever she (Renata) finds herself, that she is cared for,” says Heidi.
Heidi has been a teacher for many years and has taught at local schools around Kuils River. She said it has taken a very long time for her to accept that her daughter is not with her. “She may not be with us, but God is always with her.”
She was reluctant to talk to the media at first. “I used to, and then had to pick myself up again. That’s how painful it is for me.”
Heidi said faith and prayer had kept her going throughout the years, as well as the support and love of family and friends. When she talks about her daughter, she quotes Scriptures. “God has been so good to me And through all the madness I will keep holding on, because nothing is in vain when you have faith.”
Last week was National Child Protection Week, and the Daily Voice spoke to Matthew Ohlsson's mother, Michelle.
It’s been 20 years since the Mitchells Plain boy disappeared and his mother has not given up hope of finding him.
Speaking out for the first time in years, mom Michelle Ohlsson, 49, broke her silence and spoke about the heartache and pain of losing her little boy.
Matthew was just nine years old when he went missing.
“He is mine…I can’t erase him or cut that cord. He is part of me," says Michelle.
She refuses to speak about him in the past tense, and says she’s never given up hope of finding him alive.