Cape Town – The wife of a former SANDF soldier who has been missing for 30 years needs your help in finding him dead or alive to help her family move on after they nearly lost all of their assets.

Eva Julies, from Rocklands in Mitchells Plain, has been searching for three decades for answers about her husband, September Julies, who suffered a mental breakdown before 1992 and had left his position as a soldier in the SANDF due to this.

In the early 90s, September had been enlisted as a patient at Lentegeur Psychiatric hospital and was experiencing outbursts due to post-traumatic stress.

In December 1992, Julies was forced to call the police after an outburst got out of control.

September, who is originally from Robertson, left his home and vanished without a trace.

Julies raised their children and now has five grandchildren who are unknown to September.

Last week, Julies took to social media in hopes of finding answers and approached the Western Cape Missing Persons Unit.

She had previously opened up a missing persons case at the Mitchells Plain Police Station and approached authorities to gain a declaration of death due to September’s name being on all of their assets.

She had faced losing their home and many hardships without any proof of life or death.

“He was in the South African National Defence Force as a soldier and in the early 1990s he completed his service,” she said.

“We were married in 1977 and he was born in 1954. He went off his mind, he had suffered post-traumatic stress and was not the same person anymore and was treated as a patient at Lentegeur Psychiatric Hospital.

“One day in December 1992, I had to call the police and that was when he disappeared. We have four children together.”

Julies said she had given up hope over the years but is now hoping for fresh leads with the assistance of the public or missing persons organisations.

“I had reported him missing and as the years passed things became hard for my children and I financially and we had amazing support from our family.

“As the decades and years passed on I approached Home Affairs for a declaration of death as the house is registered on his name and I wanted to place it on mine in order to take out insurance but they said I could not do that. I need closure, I need answers.”

Candice van der Rheede of the Western Cape Missing Persons Unit confirmed they were now investigating September’s case.

A search conducted by the family also proved that Julies had no work record over the years.

Police spokesperson, Warrant Officer, Joseph Swartbooi said they were unable to trace records of the man’s disappearance on their files.

“Mitchells Plain police has no record of the incident you are referring to.”