The Hermanus community stood together in solidarity when a report of a missing girl was recently shared on a community WhatsApp group.

Various role players were dispatched to assist with the search including Fidelity ADT, Neighbourhood Watches, police, law enforcement, the NSRI and other community members. The girl went missing in the Onrus River area and the alert followed a search operation which lasted almost eight hours.

Our team was notified of the missing girl and responded immediately.

We joined the other parties in the search, whilst making sure that we got a clear description and the necessary information with regards to her whereabouts. Our CCTV operators also got involved trying to identify where she might be, or to identity places where she might have been spotted earlier.

Fortunately she was found in the early hours of the morning only a few hours after the reports were received. She was discovered by a Fidelity ADT officer after triggering an alarm at a property in Onrus North.

Officer Cobus van der Walt was patrolling in the area as part of the search party and followed up on an alarm signal. He was relieved to find that it was in fact the missing girl who triggered the alarm, and together with the local Neighbourhood Watch managed to escort her back to her parents.

The importance of information sharing was once again proven to be a vital tool in emergency situations such as this incident. We continue to be actively involved with our community security forums as we look to support and enable them wherever possible.

The lesson from this incident, for us, is the power of a collective and coordinated response. This story could have had a very negative outcome, had it not been for everyone’s wonderful cooperation. We salute everyone that played a part in her safe return.