Cape Town – A woman from the United States of America has contacted the mother of seven-year-old Anastasia Lucas, claiming she is the missing little girl.
The woman who identified herself as Mareana Holland from Columbus, Ohio, made contact with the Weekend Argus, asking for assistance.
She said she had found out she was adopted and later that she had possibly been part of a human trafficking operation.
However, her claims were disputed by Anatasia’s mother, Joanie Lucas, who said the woman did not resemble her missing child.
Anastasia disappeared in November 1997 while playing with her friend in Cypress Road in Westridge, Mitchells Plain.
Holland said she had made contact with her local authorities, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), to get assistance.
Holland said that she wanted a blood test to be conducted.
She claimed she had learnt about Anastasia’s story on the internet and said knew she was the missing little girl because she had memories of her father, who had been a smoker and that she had learnt via her grandmother that she had been adopted.
She further stated that she had suffered memory loss.
“My room was toward the back of the house towards the right,” she said. “My papi smoked, and I hated it. I always told my mom about it. I don’t remember much. I suffer from anxiety and have a bad memory from a car accident.”
She added that she thinks Lucas should look into it and keep in mind that children’s looks change.
“A close family member is helping me with this investigation. She believes I may be Anastasia also, from the baby pictures. I would like to be tested first.”
Lucas said the woman did not resemble her daughter and that she had accepted her Facebook request to see what she wanted to say.
Lucas refuted the woman’s claims and said she had been inundated with such stories over the years.
She also questioned whether the woman was really living in the USA.
“She does not resemble my daughter,” she said after sharing various photographs of Anastasia.
“My husband smoked, but anyone could have read that on the internet. She sent me a Facebook request, and I accepted it, and she is yet to talk to me on there.
“She is taking chances by saying she is Stacy. When I saw her picture, I didn’t even get excited because I could see she is not my daughter. I had stories over the years of people saying they saw her, and I cannot even remember them anymore.”
Weekend Argus