A distraught father has related how the police allegedly failed to assist after his daughter was reported missing.

Ipeleng Moholane, pictured , a Midrand Graduate Institute student, was found dead in a veld in President Park, Midrand, on Monday.

The 19-year-old's father Isaac Moholane said the family was devastated.

"I have identified her body. She was raped and strangled. Her feet were tied with her underwear. I have also been to the scene and the grass was flat. My daughter died a cruel and ruthless death," said Moholane, who believes his daughter was killed on Sunday.

The family had spent Mother's Day with Ipeleng and had also spoken to her during the course of the week and she "seemed fine".

Moholane said Ipeleng disappeared in Pretoria central after attending a church service. He believes that if police had effective programmes in place to deal with such matters, his daughter would still be alive.

"We realised that she was missing on Wednesday and went to report a case at the Pretoria Central police station. Police were not helpful. I wanted to have her cellphone tracked but was not assisted.

"There are people who claim my daughter was spotted in a black BMW with Nigerian men," he said.

Moholane said the family was drawing strength from God.

Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said police would deal with the family's concern about how the case was handled only when a formal complaint was received.

Dlamini said a manhunt had been launched for Ipeleng's killers.

"Police found a half-naked body at the scene. A postmortem will be conducted to establish the cause of death as well as the date on which she was killed," Dlamini said.

Dozens of adults who disappear and are reported to police end up being found dead, according to Children SA. Children SA statistics indicate that from December 1 2012 to November 30 2013, 343 adults - aged 18 and above - were reported missing and 242 were found. Of the 242 that were found, 27 were dead.

From December 1 2013 to November 30 2014, 400 adults were reported missing. Of these 263 were found, and 27 were dead.

Over the past two financial years, Gauteng had the highest number of missing adults reported to the organisation - 318. It is closely followed by Western Cape's 315.

Spokeswoman Nicky Rheeder said: "It is unfortunate when a person (adult or child) is found deceased. It is our hope that we will be able to extend our reach and assist more families of missing individuals in the hope that we can find them before any harm comes to them."

She said although the organisation did not place adult cases in categories, many go missing after abduction and accidents cases.

On May 3 2013, Philasande Ngum, also 19, was found dead in a veld in President Park. She was murdered even after her mother had paid the R1500 ransom her daughter's abductors had demanded.

mashabas@sowetan.co.za