Lost and found: How a child who went missing returned 14 years later

Correspondence from Bono:

• Nancy went missing 14 years ago

• Her family thought she had died after all efforts to find her proved futile

• She returned to her parent after the woman she stayed with told her she was not her biological mother

The story of a child who went missing fourteen years ago and has returned has become the talk in town at Katakyiekrom a community near Drobo in the Jaman South Municipality of the Bono Region.

The story of her return though strange has brought joy to her family who thought she was dead and had forgotten about her after several years of fruitless search and waiting.

Nancy Kyeraa mysteriously went missing in May 2007 when she was three years six months old, an incident that brought the whole community to a standstill.

A social announcement that was made on the then Drobo-based radio station, Radio Omega on May 3, 2007, yielded no results.

A visit to Katakyiekrom by GhanaWeb’s Bono Regional Correspondent, Frank Aboagye confirmed the story as many people in the community had gathered at the family house to catch a glimpse of Nancy and to confirm the veracity of the news.

Narrating the events on the day of the incident, the mother of the child, 57-year-old Madam Afia Ohenewaa who was yet to come to terms with the return of her long-lost daughter disclosed that she realised her daughter was missing after she had finished her “konkonte”.

She indicated that the initial hope was that she was with some relatives or friends but after several attempts to locate her proved unsuccessful, she raised an alarm, and a search party was organised by the community but to no avail, as her daughter was nowhere to be found.

“The whole incident happened in May 2007. I used to sell food so my daughter was playing around unfortunately by the time I finished selling she was nowhere to be found. Initially, we thought she was with some of our relatives but all attempts to look for her proved futile as it was clear that my daughter was gone”.

On what convinced her that the returnee is her missing daughter, Madam Afia Ohenewaa indicated that every mother will be able to identify her daughter no matter the circumstances as blood being thicker than water.

She averred that other body features such as her protruding navel from childbirth and a scar on her leg convinced her beyond reasonable doubt that she is her lost child.

Madam Konamah Florence, an aunt to Nancy who could not hide her joy at the return of the child they perceived to be dead thanked God for finally answering their prayers after years of waiting.

Nancy Kyeraa’s Narration

Nancy Kyeraa who is now eighteen years old says she grew up at Dambai in the Oti Region with her supposed mother.

Her name until her return to her family was Sharifa.

She indicated that she grew up thinking the woman was her biological mother until the woman on her sickbed disclosed to her that she stole her from Drobo because she looked pretty.

She revealed that after the death of the woman, she decided to trace her roots by traveling to Drobo to look for her parents as the woman prior to her death mentioned her parents as Kofi Amofa, a palm wine tapper and Abena Anokyewaa.

The reaction of the family

The disappearance of Nancy for years was a burden the family had to grapple and her unsuspected return has therefore settled all conspiracies surrounding her mysterious disappearance.

Her return in the words of the family is the greatest miracle they have witnessed and they are happy for her return.

Appeal for Support

Sadly, Nancy returned with a deformity to her right eye which needs immediate medical attention. Her narration indicates that she was hit in the eye by her late “mother”. The family is therefore appealing for financial support to enable her to seek medical attention as her father is dead and her unemployed mother could barely walk.