Search launched after Pretoria man, 74, vanishes in Limpopo after attending a wedding

Police in Limpopo have launched a search for 74-year-old Modise Bryan Mote, from Pretoria, who vanished at Lebowakgomo. Picture: SAPS

Police in Limpopo have launched a search for 74-year-old Modise Bryan Mote, from Pretoria, who vanished at Lebowakgomo. Picture: SAPS

Published Nov 29, 2022

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Pretoria - Police at in Lebowakgomo, in Limpopo, have launched a search for an elderly man, identified as 74-year-old Modise Bryan Mote, from Pretoria, Gauteng province who went missing on Saturday.

“The victim was reportedly last seen by a friend on Saturday, November 26, at about 9pm while at Byldrift village in the Lebowakgomo policing area where they had come to attend a wedding ceremony,” said Limpopo police spokesperson, Sergeant Maphure Manamela.

“According to the information, the elderly man was offered a place to sleep after the celebration but in the morning he was nowhere to be found and has since disappeared.”

Manamela said the septuagenarian was last seen wearing a white chequered shirt, navy blue trousers and a white jacket.

Police in Limpopo have launched a search for 74-year-old Modise Bryan Mote, from Pretoria, who vanished at Lebowakgomo. Picture: SAPS

“He is short, with a bald head,” said Manamela.

“Anyone with information of his whereabouts should contact the investigating officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Nyamanyawo Thomas Baloyi on 082 565 8234, the Crime Stop number at 08600 10111, the nearest police station or use My SAPS App. The police investigation continues.”

In September, the police search and rescue team played a pivotal role in rescuing a 33-year-old man who was for hours trapped on the Chuenespoort Mountains in the Lebowakgomo policing area outside Polokwane.

At the time, police in Limpopo said George Mondane, a Zionist priest from Makgofe village outside Seshego, reportedly went to the mountains in the early hours of the morning to have “a secret prayer session”.

“He later started to feel uneasy and hallucinated, that’s when he lost his way back. He also realised that he ran out of food and water and frantically wandered around the mountains and fortunately his phone was fully charged and managed to call for help,” Colonel Malesela Ledwaba said.

“The victim was safely rescued at about 6pm, following a search operation by members of the SAPS Air Wing and Water Wing Rescue Unit. He was treated for minor dehydration and shock before he was taken home.”

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