"Home Safe": Missing Cape Town Woman Fatima Arendse Found After 15-Hour Search
- 38-year-old Fatima Arendse vanished from an Engen petrol station in Surrey Estate after a man allegedly drove off with her still in his vehicle
- Her close friend Jade Pretorius launched an urgent online campaign to find her, rallying community watch networks across Cape Town
- Arendse's family confirmed her safe return late Monday night and asked for privacy as she recovers
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Cape Town woman Fatima Arendse, 38, arrived home safely late on Monday night, 26 October, after hours of desperate searching by friends, family, and community networks across the city.
Her return came just before 11pm, roughly 15 hours after she was last seen. Police officers took her formal statement into the early hours of Tuesday morning, while her family requested that the public respect their privacy during her recovery.
What happened at the Surrey Estate petrol station
The ordeal began around 4am on Monday morning after Arendse and two childhood friends spent the night out near a venue called The Shack. With all their mobile phones dead, the group accepted a ride from an unknown man driving a white Nissan Almera, who offered to drop them in Woodstock.
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Instead, the driver headed towards Surrey Estate. When the vehicle stopped at an Engen petrol station, the two friends stepped inside to buy a few items. Before they could return, the driver allegedly pulled away with Arendse still in the car.
Close friend Jade Pretorius, who learned of the incident at around 8am, described what happened:
"Some guy drove off with her in his car while two friends were inside the petrol station, getting cigarettes. This guy drove off with her, and she hasn't been seen or heard from since."
Community rallies to find Fatima
Pretorius immediately took to social media, pushing the story into community watch groups and sparking a widespread digital search. Based on descriptions from the two friends, the suspect is believed to be a tall man estimated to be between 39 and 41 years old, wearing a cap and sporting a beard without a moustache, with visible pimples on the back of his head. Petrol station staff noted that the Almera appeared to have no front licence plate.
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Pretorius, along with Arendse's father and her boyfriend, worked to secure an official docket from Manenberg police, which was needed to legally access CCTV footage that could help identify the suspect and vehicle.
Their efforts, combined with the community's response, kept the search alive throughout the day until news broke that Arendse had made it home.
Read the full story here.
More Briefly News stories on missing persons
- Kingsmead College mourns former Afrikaans teacher Narelle Potgieter, who died aged 73; colleagues and students remember her warmth, humour and feisty spirit.
- Missing Gqeberha teenager Allegra Styles, 14, was found safe and unharmed in North End after police traced her following an alleged altercation in Gqeberha.
- Torell Abrahams, the missing Wentworth safety officer, was found unharmed after a week-long search across Durban, including South Beach, Franga Rocks and Phoenix.
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Source: Briefly News
