INLSA
Warrant Officer Jeremy Marten of the now disbanded Durban Organised Crime Unit. Picture: Sbonelo Ngcobo
“When it is a missing child it becomes more personal for a policeman”, was the explanation given by Warrant Officer Jeremy Marten on why he got involved in the case of the missing 14-year-old, Kaylene Lewis.
Marten, 38, from the disbanded Durban Organised Crime Unit, was part of the team who found Kaylene on Wednesday night after a raid on a Malvern home.
His unit was disbanded recently and has been assigned no new cases since last year after allegations in a weekend newspaper that a “hit squad” existed in the unit.
Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane said yesterday that a 35-year-old man was arrested at the home and has been charged with abduction.
Police had been searching for Kaylene since she went missing from her Glenhills home on May 20, but despite some sightings they were unable to locate her.
A massive search was launched and her father Quinton Lewis told the media that he believed that his daughter had left his home with a person she had met on a social networking site.
Kaylene’s neighbours and school friends made impassioned pleas on Facebook for her to return home.
Marten, who was not assigned to deal with the matter, said he decided to help after he was asked by the mother of one of the victims of the Facebook rapist, Thabo Bester.
“She knew me, as we had worked on that case and solved it. So she was quite insistent that I get involved in the search. I then decided to offer my assistance to the investigating officer last week and approached provincial crime intelligence for their help, and we looked at any information we could glean from social networking sites.”
He added that there were a lot of sightings of Kaylene but they did not have many good leads.
“Every sighting was checked by the investigating officer Vicks Moodley but they did not pan out. Then we managed to identify certain people of interest on the social networking sites and from there, with the help of crime intelligence, we were able to make a breakthrough,” said Marten.
He added that Kaylene had been relieved and emotional when they found her.
“Her father was thrilled when we told him that she had been found. It was great that we found her when we did, because it could have been a lot worse. “
It is believed that the man had befriended Kaylene on a social chat site and had lied about his age.
The man is expected to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court soon
