Jacqueline Jansen, grandmother of the then six-year-old Asheeqah Noordien who vanished without a trace from Eva Court, Stormsriver Road in Manenberg in June 2005, had a dream that sparked renewed hope to start a fresh search for her granddaughter.
“As the 20th anniversary of her disappearance approaches, her family remains unwavering in their search for answers.
Her grandmother and mother, Naeema Noordien, have never given up hope.
“For years they visited the Manenberg Police Station daily, refusing to let time erase their daughter’s and granddaughter’s memory,” said Cpt Ian Bennett, spokesperson for the Manenberg Police Station.
“They continue to live at the same address, searching tirelessly, never putting the blame on anyone, only holding onto the belief that Asheeqah will be found.”
Recently, Jansen had a vivid dream in which Asheeqah called out for help.
The experience was so powerful she believed it was a spiritual connection to her missing granddaughter.
Determined to act, she returned to the police station, where Brigadier Jayce Naidoo, the new station commander, rallied his commanders to listen to her story.
Although the case had long gone cold they understood that as long as a mother believes there is hope.
“We are often the last hope for people who have nowhere to go in their time of hopelessness,” said Bennett.
“They turn to us, the police. Manenberg police station has recommitted itself to reopening the investigation.
“Several fresh inquiries are underway and new interviews are being conducted. In a groundbreaking move, Manenberg police approached an age-progression expert to reconstruct Asheeqah’s face, using images of her parents, grandmother and cousins as reference.”
“An age-progression image of a missing person isn’t merely a matter of an artist using their imagination to produce a composite of how a missing person may look after several years of being missing.
“Neither is it the artist merely modifying an image by adding a few facial lines or deepening existing crinkles and creases.
“They will generally follow a more complex process to work towards how the missing person may have anatomically evolved throughout their lives right to the age they are supposed to be at now.
According to Bennett, several factors are taken into consideration to produce an age-progression, which are:
1. Knowing the age of the missing person in their last photo is important.
2. It’s crucial to obtain several clear unedited photos of the missing person. It’s also equally important to get clear photos of their siblings and parents with similar features to see the different stages of how they’ve aged through the years.
This will help the artist to determine how the missing person’s face may also have changed and matured over time. If there are no such family photographs available then it’s not unknown for the artist to refer to their own personal collection of family photos to assist with the ageing process.
3. That said, it’s also tricky to age-progress a missing child’s face to the level of adulthood. While an adult’s facial features have already developed a child’s face goes through a whole series of changes over the years.
Their faces change shape, facial bones and teeth grow and develop, their skin texture changes (pimples, scars, etc). Another challenge is that little is known about the missing child’s lifestyle as an adult, which plays a vital factor in age progressing a photo, and producing an accurate composite.
4. It’s important for the artist to speak to close family members of the missing person’s to find family traits out such as hair loss or whether the missing person had specific identifying features i.e. beaky nose, squint, birth defects and so on.
5. It’s also essential for the artist to find out more about the missing person’s background, their personality, how they looked after themselves, dietary habits, their lifestyles and so on. For example smokers, drug users, alcoholics or binge-eaters will age differently to those living a more wholesome lifestyle.
“All of the above and more plays an important factor in producing a more accurate composite of the missing person. After a painstaking race against time and taking all the factors into account the age-progression expert produced a near perfect image of what Asheeqah would look like today, at 26 years old.
“Armed with this revived approach, expert guidance and renewed determination, Manenberg police’s Missing Persons Coordinator has launched a thorough investigation.
“Nothing will be left to chance,” said Bennett.
“If anyone recognises this face, has any information or can provide new insights they can contact Manenberg police on 021 699 9400, Sgt Natasha Landers on 082 379 1535 or Crime Stop 08600 10111.
Bennett appealed to the community to help reunite Asheeqah with her family
