Missing 8-Year-Old Boy Found Alive in School Classroom After Being Trapped for 48 Hours
- An eight-year-old boy reported missing in Nyanga on Friday was found inside a classroom at Hleliisa Primary School two days later
- SAPS and the Hope Missing Persons Unit searched the streets for two days before a crucial tip led investigators back to the school
- The boy told volunteers he had survived by switching on a classroom heater when it got cold, and switching it off before he fell asleep
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WESTERN CAPE - An eight-year-old boy from Nyanga spent 48 hours locked inside a school classroom after going missing on a Friday afternoon. He was found alive on Sunday at Hleliisa Primary School in Cape Town, bringing a frantic two-day search to a relieved close.
According to News 24, the search began after the boy's foster parent reported him missing to Nyanga police when he failed to return home from school. SAPS and the Hope Missing Persons Unit immediately began searching, with investigators and volunteers walking the streets and following up on possible sightings throughout Friday night and into Sunday morning.
A gut feeling leads searchers back to the school
A breakthrough came when Hope Missing Persons founder Veronique Williams tracked down a woman who worked with the school's feeding scheme and was one of the last people to have seen the boy. During that conversation, something shifted.
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"She said she didn't think the child had left the school gate,"Williams said.
The team then traced the contact details of the school principal and the boy's teacher, eventually reaching them on Saturday evening. On Sunday afternoon,the principal arrived and escorted the group inside.
Williams insisted on checking every corner of every classroom, even rooms that had already been searched. In the fourth classroom, a volunteer spotted two small feet sticking out from behind a piece of furniture. The boy had been found.
Boy survives on his own for two days
The child had been trapped in the classroom with no food, water, or access to a toilet for two days.
The boy told volunteers that when it became too cold overnight, he would switch on the classroom heater to keep warm, and switch it off again before falling asleep. A police officer on the scene described him as a "very smart kid."
After his rescue, the boy revealed that he had been afraid to return to his foster home because he was being beaten there. The Western Cape Department of Social Development subsequently removed him from the home while the matter is being investigated. His foster parent denied abusing the child, describing herself as a strict parent.
3 Briefly News articles on missing children
- SAPS in Moffatview, Gauteng, launched an investigation after two-year-old Milano Jayson Tlali disappeared on 30 June 2026
- The missing person case to find two-year-old Omphile Sethole took an unexpected turn as law enforcement turned their attention to her family members.
- The body of a missing 18-year-old student was recovered from a Gqeberha Lake days after his mother reported him missing.
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Source: Briefly News
