Mother's 36-year search for kidnapped twin daughter continues

As the  Easter weekend has passed, the 75-year-old mother of Veronique Adams continues to hold onto hope of finding her kidnapped twin daughter who was taken during the Easter period in 1989 by her nanny in Eldorado Park, Gauteng.

Junice Adams together with her daughter, Veronisha, now 37, who is Veronique’s twin, continues the nation-wide search for her long lost daughter, even utilising the help of local missing persons organisations such as Track n Trace and Missing Children SA.

It has been 36 years since Veronique was snatched by her nanny, only identified as Beauty Mkwanazi, on March 6, 1989, while Adams was at work.

The twins were 11 months old at the time and their sister, five, and was in the woman’s care.

The alarm was raised by Adams’ brother, who had visited the residence, which he did daily, and found that Veronique was missing.

The search for the little baby then begun. 

Adams said school children had seen the woman walking with the baby but that she had been told by police to wait 24 hours before a missing persons case could be registered.

She explained that the woman had claimed she lived in Durban or Pietermaritzburg and was in the process of providing her identity.

A case of kidnapping had been registered with police with two dockets opened and several DNA tests done, but to date, there has been no sign of what happened to Veronique.

In 2021, Veronisha took a leap of faith and asked Missing Children SA to use her face and photograph to showcase how Veronique would look at age 33. 

She had previously done so when she was 24 years old.

Today, the same poster continues to be circulated by the organisation and Veronisha.

Adams told the Cape Argus on Tuesday that they had travelled across the country to find her child.

“The police were here about three years ago and said they would be taking my DNA and that of my daughters but we never heard from them again.

“I also inquired if there is a cold case team and was told I must stop watching these things on television and since then I have never bothered with the police again.

“The one detective received information from Durban, Chatsworth, a man there said she worked for him and he had a photograph of her.

“One Friday when he came home from the mosque, his house was ransacked.

“He had a photograph of her and that was when the docket disappeared.

“Another family from Lenasia South said she worked for them and that she also gave the story about her identification, that she will go home and fetch it.

“That photograph could never be put out publicly and to me it seemed something was wrong.

“I even went to Botswana. A lady that worked at the holiday inn said they were schooling with a girl that looked like Veronique.

“We went and blood tests for DNA were taken and after a couple of weeks, I waited for the results.

“I kept calling and this officer was stationed in Soweto and I was told he was not in.

“A family friend went to inquire and found that a week after we came from Botswana, the police officer died in a car crash which made me think that something is wrong.”

Adams said she will never give up her quest to find her child.

“I am 75-years-old now and I will  do anything to find my daughter.”

Veronisha said they had received information about women fitting her description but that it was not positive.

“We have had a few leads due to the posters and articles shared on social media but nothing solid,” she said.

“People have shared photographs of people they thought looked like my sister or a lookalike but not solid leads.”

Bianca van Aswegen of Missing Children SA said they would continue to share information about such cases.

“There are many cold cases of children that are still missing, some even dating back as far as the 1980’s, but as an organisation we never give up on any of our cases, and make sure everything possible is being done to reunite a family or give the family the closure they so desperately need.”

Chaz Thomas of Track n Trace Missing Persons confirmed they also assisted the family and that they had received  information about five potential women who fitted the physical description of Veronique but that DNA testing was yet to be conducted.

If you have information about Veronique, please contact the numbers on posters provided.

Cape Argus