Desperate search for Durban woman who disappeared during floods
An Umhlanga family is hoping for a miracle after a 24-hour search for a relative who went missing yesterday afternoon during the heavy rains.
Brenda Lynn Scriven of Sunningdale was last heard from yesterday afternoon as she left her workplace in Bellair for home.
It's feared the 62-year-old may have been swept away during the floods.
Scriven lives with her daughter, her daughter's husband and the couple's young children.
Her son-in-law, Lee Swales says they became worried when she didn't arrive home at around 5pm and wasn't also picking up her phone.
He says they found her abandoned car in the Glen Anil area after someone spotted the car and went to help.
Swales says the man however found a would-be robber already in the vehicle, rummaging through Scriven's bag and managed to chase the potential robber away.
The man who'd gone to help later answered Scriven's cellphone when her worried family phone again.
"At around 7pm to 7:30pm we had found the car, the bag and all the valuables, so to speak, but there was still no sign of her. With the help of Marshall Security, Sun Cell Watch and the communities of Sunningdale and Glen Anil - which I must say have just been fantastic - we embarked on a search until 1am. I think at around 11pm, the South African Police Service arrived with a specialised search and rescue team. They went down various manholes, looking in the canals where the water was flowing really quickly. They went down, they looked and there was no sign [of her]," he said.
Swales says after suspending the search at about 1am, they resumed at 8am this morning with more help in the form of a helicopters in the air, the K9 Unit and someone offering a boat to assist.
Some family members also arrived from Johannesburg today to offer support and help with the search.
"Quite honestly at this point we've obviously phoned various hospitals. Also, there has been a crisis team that has assisted us. We've been to the hospitals personally and various people have been driving up and down. It's really difficult. You feel quite helpless, there's not a lot that you can do and it's really just the worst nightmare come true," Swales added.
The search was suspended again this afternoon at about 4:30pm as it became dark and started raining again in Durban.
The Pink Ladies have released a missing person's flyer for Brenda Lynn Scriven with contact details for Greenwood SAPS for anyone with information.
