The family of a Retreat father whose body was found in the Keyser River canal has started a back-a-buddy campaign to raise funds for a DNA test to identify the remains.
Friends of Reagan Fredericks say they are still reeling after his body was retrieved in the canal near Steenberg train station. It took five days to find the body after his disappearance. He reportedly disappeared on Wednesday 14 June and his body was discovered on Sunday 18 June.
Talking to the People’s Post, Wesley Powell, a close childhood friend of Fredericks, said they were still traumatised by the sequence of events.
“On Wednesday 14 June, at around 10:00 I got a call from a friend working at Steenberg (train) station that Reagan had been beaten up by construction workers and thrown into the river.”
Powell received the call while at work. He rushed to the scene and arrived just after 13:00.
“Friends, family and his mom went to the scene and I arrived at 13:00.
“From the beginning, authorities removed the yellow crime scene tape around the area and declared it a recovery. They told his mother that only one diver was available and he deemed it too dangerous to go in alone, due to a strong current,” claims Powell.
According to Powell, the friends returned home feeling utterly defeated.
“I felt my friend was really in that water, why was no one going back? Even though the divers said it was cold and the current was strong, for Reagan we would do everything.”
Deciding to take matters into his hands, Powell used social media to call on the Retreat community and any divers or friends who were willing to search for Reagan.
“On Thursday, everyone went back to the scene and police divers came. Law enforcement said they would send drones into the sky and that angered us because they were professionals and had the equipment, but did not want to enter the water.
“How can you tell the mother you are sending a drone, but not sending anyone into the water?”
Three friends Moegamat Basier, Siraaj Basier and Tashreeq Matthews volunteered to do a water search after Frederick’s body was still not found.
“They are the first volunteers who went diving. They were tied to a rope and all of us were holding onto the end of that rope. On Youth Day, (Friday 16 June) another friend came with a net because we thought maybe we could scoop Reagan’s body. We just wanted to do something, but did not have the equipment.”
On Sunday morning, 18 June the community returned to the scene with family and friends.
“At the time, people came with coffee and tea, food and all these outreaches from the community and that is when we demanded answers from the diving team.
“We started the day with a prayer, on Father’s Day and prayed that he will reveal Reagan to us. The divers arrived and they came with a canine. We all told them where Reagan was last seen by an eyewitness and through the pain and trauma they still did not enter the water. They were on a boat.”
A pastor, who was close to the family, arrived with his diving suit and flippers and joined the three volunteer divers to once again search the water.
“After 20 minutes in the water, one of them touched the body.
“You must imagine, 200 to 300 people standing on the edges of the water, we were in disbelief. Reagan has a five-month-old son and his body was found on Father’s Day.”
After the five-day ordeal, the family and friends are yet to find closure.
“His mother went to the mortuary to identify the body and they mentioned that he was in the water for five days, so it is not possible to identify him. The best way to identify the body is through a state DNA test that will take three months.”
However, this is too long for the family as they seek immediate closure. They have since started a back-a-buddy campaign to raise funds for a private DNA test to speed up the process.
“If the family pays for the DNA test then they get the results in four days and they can bury Reagan sooner.”
The incident has left deep wounds among the close-knit friends.
“I am struggling with the fact that 12 June was the last time I heard Reagan’s voice. We were like brothers.”
Reagan was the breadwinner and his mother’s only son, he adds.
“He would have turned 31 this Friday (30 June).
“His mother now has the dilemma to organise a funeral and not a birthday.”
According to pastor Mark Schrikker, the community came and stood together.
“From the community side, as a community leader and as a pastor, it is not nice to not have closure. I feel really sad that we have all these resources but not one of those resources was used to retrieve the body.”
Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith says an autopsy will be conducted to answer many unanswered questions.
“On Saturday evening, law enforcement received information that a crowd had located the body of the missing person at the Military Road crossing. When members responded, there was no sign of a body or a crowd.
“Since there had been numerous attempts over the preceding days where specific persons in the community had become hostile and had instigated protest action, including threatening emergency responders, at one stage threatening to damage and burn the vehicles of the Saps divers, enforcement staff was deployed to the scene to ensure calm and the safety of fire and rescue staff.
“In fact, the first deployment of the drones on my request when the Saps divers declared it too dangerous to proceed with diving, was delayed by one hour and lost valuable daylight searching time due to the protests on Military Road.”
Smith added that police are investigating how Fredericks ended up in the water.
“While Saps is investigating the manner in which the missing person ended up in the river and will be performing an autopsy to verify the nature of the person’s injuries, hopefully, once their investigation is complete, it will provide clarity to the many questions left unanswered.”
