Search on for heavily pregnant mom and daughter, 5

The search continued on Monday for a heavily pregnant woman and her five-year-old daughter who “disappeared” a week ago.

Tessa Roodt’s family are desperate to find her, fearing she may not be able to get immediate medical assistance should she go into labour or take care of her daughter Crystal.

The 32-year-old mother is 13 days overdue.

Her sister-in-law Cindy Roodt said Tessa was scheduled to have a caesarian section at Port Shepstone Hospital, in KwaZulu-Natal, a week ago.

She said Tessa lived in Rustenburg, in the North West, with her father and was staying with her stepmother in Hibberdene, KZN, in the run-up to the birth of her fourth child.

“She didn’t arrive at the hospital. She was seen at Hibberdene Spar later that morning. She then went home to her stepmom, where she was said to have packed a bag and left with Crystal on foot.

“They were later picked up and dropped off on the Mtwalume offramp, 10km north of Hibberdene. Tessa declined the driver’s assistance and said she was heading to Durban. There was a picture circulating that woman took of them walking on the highway.”

The pair were later spotted in Amanzimtoti.

A day later they were sighted at Addington Hospital in Durban.

“This is the last confirmed lead we have,”  Roodt said.

The family contacted hospitals in the province but Tessa and Crystal were not there.

“Tessa is suffering with severe depression, as she always does during her pregnancies. She is in no way mental disturbed or mentally unstable, as assumed by the public on social media. Tessa didn’t say much during her stay with her stepmom but was always concerned about her father, who works in Rustenburg.

“We have considered she may be heading towards him. Tessa is also very close to her brother, who is my husband, but she hasn’t reached out to either of them during this week, which is extremely concerning for the family,” Roodt said. 

She said a missing persons case at been opened at Hibberdene police station.

The SA Community Crime Watch group is also searching for the pair. The case handler Floerien Deysel can be contacted on 061-123-3767.

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