Shine A Light: Missing But Not Forgotten

It’s become increasingly common for Police to appeal on social media to locate a missing person. An image of the missing person is made available and the public is requested to provide assistance. These appeals are often wide-reaching and engagement can be high. Sometimes, they can even help progress a case and bring those missing back home.

Many missing persons, particularly children and youths, eventually return to their families. However, a handful never do. In recent years, Shine a Light has covered several cases of missing children that remain unsolved.

We revisit a few of them as a continuation of a series we started last week with unsolved murders from the past decade.

Here are their stories.

PENIANA VADEI 

Peniana Vadei, or Pe, was 18 years old when she disappeared from a beach in Maui Bay on the Coral Coast, Sigatoka, on September 7, 2022. She was on a trip with her mother, brother and his friend. It was Constitution Day, a public holiday. The picnic spot was busy as usual for an area that’s popular among locals and tourists alike. Pe, her brother, and his friend had joined a church youth group for a volleyball game before their mother joined in. Pe had left the game to return to where the family had been sitting before. When they returned, Pe’s belongings were there, but she was missing. They searched the whole beach but couldn’t find her anywhere.

A formal police report was lodged the next day, and a few days later, local Police divers searched the Maui Bay waters. An expert diver was brought on to support search efforts.

The case was reportedly the first of its kind to happen in the area. Pe hasn’t been found in nearly three years. The investigation into her disappearance by Sigatoka Police continues.

She has been described by those closest to her as strong, intelligent, and well-loved.

CHIRAG MURTI 

On November 12, 2021, just after midday, seven-year-old Chirag Murti was reported missing from his home in Qila, Taveuni. The three children of Shyam and Nargis Murti, including Chirag, were alone at home with their mother. Mr Murti was out with a fellow farmer shopping for iron roofing.

Mrs Murti went out to pick coconut leaves up a hill 50 metres away from the family home, leaving behind Chirag, his twin brother and younger sister, who were playing outside.

When Mrs Murti discovered that Chirag was missing, she alerted the neighbours and searched for him. Local police conducted interviews and combed the area the next day. Mr Murti’s farmhouse, located an hour away by horseback, was also searched. Chirag was the first child reported missing in the small community of Qila.

While it was highly unusual for Chirag to disappear without a trace, it was not uncommon for his mother, Mrs Murti to leave him and his siblings unattended in their home.

The Social Welfare department had at one point found the children alone at the house. Chirag’s family believed that he was taken away.

Police did not respond to a request for an update on investigations into the case.

TALEI RAIKADROKA 

Three-year-old Talei Raikadroka has been missing since November 30, 2019. She was last seen inside the home of her paternal grandparents in Kalekana, Lami, where she had been sleeping on the night of Friday, November 29.

Talei’s mother, Losalini Lalaia, had checked up on her later that night. A family friend and her stepmother-in-law were reportedly drinking on the porch outside the home. Her father-in-law, Mr Devekuta Raikadroka, had slept with Talei in the same room that night. But the following morning on Saturday, family members discovered that Talei was missing. A search was initiated by the family the same day before police stepped in to conduct a search of their own of the Kalekana community on Sunday, the same day a police report was lodged with the Lami Police Station.

Family members were questioned by Police, including Mr Raikadroka.

Talei’s disappearance left a gaping hole in the lives of her loved ones, including her young parents, who had separated following the incident. It affected a community that hadn’t experienced a loss of its kind before.

Questions sent to Police this week regarding the status of investigations remain unanswered. Talei would’ve been eight years old now.

INVESTIGATING MISSING PERSONS 

Shine a Light covered the case of Chirag Murti and revisited the disappearance of Talei Raikadroka in late September 2022, not long after Peniana Vadei went missing.

The column highlighted how part of the public discourse at the time was the issue that Police wouldn’t begin searching for missing persons until after 24 hours. In response, then-Fiji Police Force Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho noted that Police investigations into a missing person began at the point a report was lodged.

Since then, Police have continued to report and investigate people missing, including children.

The former Commissioner said in 2022 that Police recorded 20 to 30 cases of missing persons on average per month, adding that a “high number of youths and juveniles” were reported missing in years prior. However, statistically, they eventually returned home.

Police have said that it was working hard to address these missing persons cases and locate the individuals as soon as possible.

STATISTICS 

A total of 723 missing children’s cases were reported and registered, with 95 per cent of returnees recorded between 2014 and 2019, according to a 2019 Police Investigation Report on missing children and teenagers. Thirty-seven reported cases between 2015 and 2019, however, remained unsolved.

These statistics pale in comparison to the number of children that go missing in other countries in the region.

Close to 37,000 children were reported missing in Australia in 2023, with more than one million children globally reported missing annually.

While most children in Australia are found within the first 24 hours of being reported missing, hundreds of cases remain unsolved.

Do Read the Case of Murti and Talei: https://fijisun.com.fj/2022/09/24/the-cases-of-missing-murti-and-talei/

Peniana Vadei Case: https://fijisun.com.fj/2022/09/21/shine-a-light-have-you-seen-peniana-vadei/

Talei Rakaidroka Case: https://fijisun.com.fj/2020/11/07/shine-a-light-the-case-of-missing-3-year-old-talei/

Feedback: jernese.macanawai@fijisun.com.fj