SOUTH AFRICA - Marie Ostbo, 21, Sedgefield, Norwegian student, 18 Apr 2018

[Spellbound]

Originally Posted by MissEhrmann
I tried to make a new thread about a 21 year old missing Norwegian student, but was unable to post it. She went missing in Sedgefield, South Africa. Please, can someone help? Here is a link to a news article, her missing poster, her facebook and her familys facebook (for keeping people updated on her post).

https://www.knysnaplettherald.com/Ne...t-201804240140
https://www.facebook.com/marie.ostbo
https://www.facebook.com/helene.ostbo?fref=ufi
https://www.facebook.com/MissingMino...type=3&theater

 

[Spellbound]

https://www.facebook.com/MissingMin...550099384123/1892969910775460/?type=3&theater

https://www.knysnaplettherald.com/N...ly-frantic-about-missing-student-201804240140

Bakkane [family friend]also questioned why it took police as long as five days, according to her, to send an official missing person notice."How can SA authorities solely pursue the drowning theory… knowing that her new camera, which was claimed to be the reason why she allegedly went too close to the sea, (was) found at her hotel room," the worried woman wanted to know.

https://youtu.be/3Ag6gvP0Sho

[video=youtu;3Ag6gvP0Sho]http://youtu.be/3Ag6gvP0Sho[/video]

[FONT=&amp]Published on Apr 21, 2018
[/FONT][FONT=&amp] search continues for a missing 21-year old Norwegian student who disappeared from the Garden Route town of Sedgefield earlier this week. Marie Ostbo vanished after going for a walk on Myoli Beach on Wednesday. Police say a cellphone and shoes found on the beach belonged to her. [/FONT]​

 

[MissEhrmann]

I really hope this case will get the attention it deserves.
Maries family and friends are questioning the police as to why they only consider drowning as the cause of her disappearance. Marie went missing only a day after Australia warns their citizens about traveling to South Africa because of the all the crime. South African police and government are not happy allot this because they need the money from tourism. When reading the comments in all the news articles on facebook the people who actually live there say that its dangerous for young, white females to walk alone at any time of day, but the government and police say there is no crime there.

Police have not been interested in CCTV, they have not been seeking two men who were seen in the area at the time of her disappearance and they say she probably drowned while swimming. Her family and friends say she did not go swimming, and she was wearing jeans and the weather was terrible at the time.
http://www.capetownetc.com/news/uk-...citizens-on-safety-in-south-africa-not-ready/
https://www.thesouthafrican.com/marie-ostbo-father-fears-she-may-have-been-attacked/

 

[Spellbound]

MissEhrmann, by chance are you from Norway and will get more updates than we here in the States?

It is even more frustrating when a loved one goes missing in another country and they do not seem to be too thorough in their investigation. It is harder for us to understand what really is being done.

I do hope this young lady is found real soon, but it gets so worrisome the longer she stays missing.

 

[Spellbound]

Her camera must also be missing?

Her father fears she may have been attacked:

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/marie-ostbo-father-fears-she-may-have-been-attacked/

The 21-year old disappeared last Wednesday, after taking a stroll with a group of international students at Mloyi Beach in the Garden Route, some 100m away from the lodge where they were staying.
Her cellphone , hat and shoes were found along the beachfront


http://ewn.co.za/2018/04/23/search-for-missing-norwegian-student-enters-sixth-day
Marie Ostbo disappeared on the same day she arrived in the Southern Cape town. She was on tour in South Africa.



http://www.capetownetc.com/news/father-of-missing-norwegian-student-speaks-out-ready/
[her father] Ostbo told the newspaper that the group of students had gone for a walk in the early evening but returned to the backpacker’s lodge when the weather took a turn for the worst. Marie, however, had stayed outside to take photographs with a new camera she had purchased especially for the trip.The group only realised that Ostbo had not rejoined them after 30 minutes, when they wanted to leave for supper.
“I think she may have been attacked because she would never put away shoes‚ caps and mobile phones on the beach and bathe with the camera she just bought‚” said her father.

 

[Spellbound]

http://www.newsinenglish.no/2018/04/23/search-continues-for-missing-student-in-south-africa/
April 23
Police and emergency services in the beach town of Sedgefield, South Africa have been searching for days for a young woman from Stavanger who’s a student at the prestigious Sciences Po Toulouse in France. Marie Sæther Østbø disappeared while on a trip with fellow students and police fear she’s drowned.

(searches by boat and helpcopter have yielded no results)

On Monday police stated that they don’t think any criminal activity was involved in her disappearance.

(winds were strong and seas were rough last Wednesday.)
- - -
https://citizen.co.za/news/news-cns/1905970/norwegian-family-frantic-about-missing-student/ she’s been gone a week now, 4/25/2018

The search party currently trying to find the lost tourist includes members of the SA Police Service, the police diving unit, K9 dog unit, National Sea Rescue Institute, SA National Parks, emergency medical services and volunteers from the local community.

On Monday, April 23, according to a reliable source, a helicopter supplied by Working on Fire (WoF) also joined the search, but to no avail.

 

[MissEhrmann]

Yes, I'm from Norway. A friend of the family has spoken about the case publicly and so has her father.
The news today is that she has gotten on INTERPOLs page of missing persons. Norwegian police are also considering starting investigations in South Africa.
https://www.interpol.int/notice/search/missing/2018-36511
The Norwegian press is also pressuring the police in South Africa.

https://www.knysnaplettherald.com/News/Article/General/no-sign-of-missing-student-201804260244

 

[Spellbound]

Thabks MissE. I wish there would be some credible sighting or tip ... or something. Maybe it will help if Norway does get more involved over there. I cannot imagine how a parent begins to even start a search or find their child in another country .

 

[JerseyGirl]

The 21-year old disappeared last Wednesday, after taking a stroll with a group of international students at Mloyi Beach in the Garden Route, some 100m away from the lodge where they were staying.

Soon after her disappearance, some of her belongings; a cellphone , hat and shoes were found along the beachfront as a search party patrolled the area.

Her father fears that she may have been attacked.

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/marie-ostbo-father-fears-she-may-have-been-attacked/

 

[JerseyGirl]

Her mother questioned why police have not yet traced down and interviewed two men who were apparently caught on CCTV footage near the area where Ostbo disappeared. She also wanted to know if proper “technical investigations” have been done in connection with the cap, cellphone and shoes found on the beach.

Her mother also questioned why it took police as long as five days to send an official missing person notice. “How can SA authorities solely pursue the drowning theory… knowing that her new camera, which was claimed to be the reason why she allegedly went too close to the sea, (was) found at her hotel room,” the worried woman wanted to know.

According to her mother, those who were on the beach with Ostbo “never thought she would be acting carelessly at the beach”, and wants Ostbo’s appearance to be regarded as a criminal act.


https://citizen.co.za/news/news-cns/1905970/norwegian-family-frantic-about-missing-student/

 

[sanielynn]

Where this crime occurred is a hindrance to it being solved, sadly. Every country works investigations and prioritizes crimes differently.

They will put more towards this because they're afraid of losing tourist dollars, but they might not be equipped to deal with the investigation.

My opinion is, the girl was likely abducted. A person or persons maybe have been watching the group. Saw her lag behind and it became a crime of opportunity. Or while she was busy snapping pictures and not paying attention to her surrounding someone happened upon her, again just a crime of opportunity.

I sincerely hope they find her, but I believe this is a recovery case.







Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[Spellbound]

Sadly, I think you are probably right, MsE. :tears:

 

[JerseyGirl]

Southern Cape police have viewed CCTV footage which shows a Norwegian student walking alone towards a Sedgefield beach before she disappeared.

Police say the video footage shows Ostbo leaving a restaurant where she was having supper with a group of people.

She's then seen walking in the direction of the beach.

The 21-year-old was on a six-day tour in the Garden Rout at the time of her disappearance.

http://ewn.co.za/2018/04/28/police-view-cctv-in-search-of-missing-norwegian-student

 

[CastlesBurning]

Anyone know how crowded that particular beach area is? Would someone be likely to hear her scream or witness a struggle?

 

[Dr.J.Bell]

I am so thankful this case is up here. I came across it in the newspaper recently and haven't been able to stop thinking about it. A friend and I are investigating quietly ourselves and are planning to take a road trip to Sedgefield as soon as we can. (It is roughly a 5 hour drive from Cape Town).
I will go through all the links here but if there is any other information that anyone thinks would be useful, please pass on.

The beach is not crowded, especially out of season and especially not at night. This case does not sit well with me at all and I don't have the greatest faith in our law enforcement.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Norwegian student Marie Ostbo in the southern Cape before she went missing.

Marie went missing last Wednesday at Myoli Beach in Sedgefield. CCTV footage shows her leaving the PiliPili restaurant by herself at around 6.15pm, where she was having dinner with her tour group.

Marie is studying political science at the University of Toulouse, France and travelled with a friend from the same university for a six-day Garden Route trip.

According to the NSRI at around 6pm some of the group went for a walk on the beach and then returned at around 7pm. Marie was last seen on the beach around this time wearing blue jeans and a white shirt standing about 100m from the backpackers where they were staying.

After others in the group noticed she had not returned with them they returned to the beach to search for her but were unsuccessful.

NSRI Wilderness and Community Police joined the search at 7.40pm.

Police confirmed that her cellphone, sandals and a cap were found neatly placed on the sand at the beach with no other evidence. They also confirmed that two men had been questioned and cleared of any wrongdoing by authorities after they were seen speaking to Marie on CCTV footage.

https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-af...amily-hopeful-daughter-will-be-found-14699170

 

[tarabull]

I am so thankful this case is up here. I came across it in the newspaper recently and haven't been able to stop thinking about it. A friend and I are investigating quietly ourselves and are planning to take a road trip to Sedgefield as soon as we can. (It is roughly a 5 hour drive from Cape Town).
I will go through all the links here but if there is any other information that anyone thinks would be useful, please pass on.

The beach is not crowded, especially out of season and especially not at night. This case does not sit well with me at all and I don't have the greatest faith in our law enforcement.

:welcome6: Dr.J.Bell thanks for joining us...tho the circumstances are lousy.

We appreciate your insight. Be safe in your travels where ever you may roam. We will be watching for your posts.

Glad you will not be making the trek to Sedgefield alone.

:candle:

Where is Marie?!???!

:detective:

 

[Spellbound]

Welcome to WS, Dr.J.Bell !

:Welcome1:
​

I was pleasantly surprised to see some more posts today, and especially gratified to have someone from the area join us. Please be careful if you go searching for any clues, or our missing young lady. Wish several of us could be there to help.

I am even afraid to say the following, but it nags me. I keep thinking about the Natalee Holloway case and how she has never been found. I pray we have better results here.

 

[MissEhrmann]

So happy to see some one from the area where she went missing is here, Dr. J. Bell! I'm in Norway, where her family is. Her father posted a news article today, and he says that there have been many news articles with wrong information, but he says this article has everything right.
So many people think she went for a swim, but it was bad weather and she was wearing a top and trousers.

http://www.edgecommunitynews.co.za/no-sign-of-missing-marie/

I have read so many comments on the news articles, and many say that she probably was abducted, but that the officials will not look that way because it will be bad for tourism. I can not imagine how it must be for her father to not know what has happened to her.

 

[Spellbound]

Glad to see a new article. From it: http://www.edgecommunitynews.co.za/no-sign-of-missing-marie/

[FONT=&quot]Marie arrived in Sedgefield, as part of a tour, at 17.30 on Wednesday 18 April. The group was due to stay at Afrovibe Back Packers near Myoli Beach. At approximately 18.10 a couple who were part of the tour, went for a walk on the beach, followed five minutes later, by Marie, who was walking alone.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As the wind was already blowing, the couple decided to head back fairly soon. They passed some way behind Marie who was sitting on the sand, facing the sea, but did not stop to call her. As they went up the dune they turned to take a photograph of her from the back. This was the last picture taken of the Norwegian girl before her disappearance.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]15 to 20 minutes later, members of the group grew concerned as she had not come back to meet them for dinner at 19.00, as had been arranged. When Marie did not answer calls made to her phone, the tour guide went to the NSRI board in front of the beach and called the emergency number. It was 11 minutes past seven when the call was logged.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]The weather was extremely bad and the seas exceptionally rough. Members of the search parties could barely hear each other above the wind, and visibility was very poor.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Whilst the ‘Missing Person’ report said that she was wearing a white top and blue jeans, it has been confirmed by those on her tour group that she was actually in a dark blue floral top with black long pants.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]There has also been misinformation in some reports regarding Marie’s camera. Whilst it has been stated that she had it with her on the beach, it has been confirmed that the camera was left in her bedroom, where it was later found by SAPS.


[/FONT]