After an agonising six-year wait, family and friends of missing Le-Jeandre de Bruyn from Wynberg, who disappeared without a trace on October 7 in 2014, might finally get some answers.
This follows the arrest and questioning of Le-Jeandre’s mother’s ex partner, James Jonas, in Mossel Bay on Friday October 30.
Mr Jonas was transferred to the Wynberg police station where the missing case was reported six years ago.
He appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Monday November 2.
Wynberg police spokesperson, Captain Silvino Davids, said Mr Jonas was wanted for questioning in the missing teen’s case as well as questioning about his firearm he left behind and a vehicle that was left at a train station not long after Le-Jeandre went missing.
Leon Rossouw, a private investigator, said they jumped into action when they heard about Le-Jeandre’s case.
“We follow up on forgotten or cold cases and find the missing pieces to give families of missing people some closure or answers. Police were unable to find Mr Jonas, so we made enquiries to do so.”
Le-Jeandre’s case is one of 14 missing persons cases the private investigator group is working on and it sent out enquiries on its social media pages to find out more information on Mr Jonas who went missing a few weeks after Le-Jeandre did in 2014.
Mr Rossouw said: “We got a tipoff that he was at a house in Mossel Bay and followed up. We worked with the police and other bodies to track him down and arrested him on Friday October 30. He was detained at Mossel Bay police station and then transferred to Wynberg,” said Mr Rossouw.
He said they hope tracking down Mr Jonas will lead to answers for the family after six years of waiting.
Le-Jeandre’s mother Catherine de Bruyn said there had been no trace of Mr Jonas who was initially questioned but claimed he had not known anything about her disappearance.
He was living with them at the time of Le-Jeandre’s disappearance.
Captain Davids confirmed Mr Jonas appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court.
“He will be taken for more questioning about Le-Jeandre’s missing case and will appear in court again.”
