WALVIS BAY – Windhoek resident Tega Matheus and his family face one of their worst nightmares after their daughter went missing about 20 days ago without trace at Walvis Bay where there is a frantic search for her.
Shannon Darlikie Wasserfall (22) was reported as missing on 10 April, after having dropped off her two-year-old baby at a friend in Kuisebmond, the previous day.
She was wearing white shorts and a blue jacket at the time of her disappearance.
No sightings of her have been reported ever since and the family suspect something untoward might have befallen their daughter.
Speaking yesterday to this reporter, a despondent Mathews said details around his daughter’s disappearance do not add up and that friends who were last in contact with her including her boyfriend might know more than what they are telling the police and the family.
“I personally drove to Walvis Bay to look for Darlikie. We were told that her phone signal was last picked up in Swakopmund. We searched for her there and called every number we found in her phone records that a friend got for me from MTC, but no one has seen or heard from her,” he explained.
According to Matheus, based on the records, it turned out that the tip turned out to be in vain.
“In fact we found out that her phone was last picked up at Anchovy tower, behind the Kuisebmond graveyard. This, however, does not mean her last location but it could be that the tower she was close to had a weak network and diverted her phone to the next closest tower,” he said. Matheus is concerned about her safety as it is unlike her to leave her baby with someone for such a long time. He said that she came to Walvis Bay in December last year only to visit her mother and was expected to go back this year to study. She has been living with him and her other siblings in Windhoek all these years.
She, however, ended up staying with the boyfriend after spending a week with her mother. “She apparently told her friend whom she left her baby with that she was going to meet someone at the Independence shop in Kuisebmond, about 100 metres from where the friend stays. Darlikie and the boyfriend also did not stay far from there. So it is impossible for her to disappear just like that,” said Matheus. Initially, he thought that she like any normal young person just went to have a bit of fun and would return.
He says he was blocked on her phone after trying to contact her and then got really worried, resulting in him driving to Walvis Bay three days after she went missing to look for her. Matheus said that one of the female friends initially tried to report her missing the first day but was told by the police to go back. “The next day, the other friend and the boyfriend reported her missing without even informing her mother or sister who lives in Walvis Bay too,” he stated. “Her timeline and information I gathered and phone records show the boyfriend was the last person she spoke to. He also also texted her sister on Thursday, a day before she was reported missing as he could not find her. Records show that calls were made on the 8 and 9 April but nothing from 10 April.” He feels there is more than what meets the eye and that the friends might know more than what they have told the police and her family.
“The uncertainty is too much to bear and I can’t help suspect foul play. I just need to know what happened to her or where she is to find closure or find her,” he said yesterday. Crime investigations coordinator for the police in Erongo Erastus Iikuyu yesterday said the investigation into Darlikie’s disappearance is ongoing.
He added they have been questioning a lot of people based on her phone records. “We have not ruled out anything including foul play, but we hope that she is still alive,” said Ikuyu. According to Iikuyu, current printouts of her phone records show her phone’s last activity was on 10 April, the day she was reported missing. He also explained that the current lockdown also makes it difficult to search properly or makes it difficult for her to be spotted by the public.
“We are trying our utmost best in tracing her. We are waiting for another set of phone records just to see if her phone was in use after she went missing. We must circulate her pictures as much as possible so that somebody might spot her. In the meantime we urge anyone who has leads to trace her to contact the police as soon as possible,” he said.
Police can be contacted at 0813600140; 0814960067 or 0814289949 for any information that could help with the investigation. – edeklerk@nepc.com.na