Online Reporter
Mthokozisi Ncube
MONTHS after the heartbreaking disappearance of four-month-old twin Alice Ncube, a dark cloud still hangs heavily over her family’s home in Bulawayo. With every sunrise, hope battles despair, and with every sunset, the pain grows deeper.
The family is now offering a US$5 000 reward to anyone who can provide information on her whereabouts.
Alice vanished on 29 December 2025, snatched from her family through what began as a simple promise of help. Her mother, Tracey Ngwenya, had been drawn in by a WhatsApp group offering free baby clothes. What should have been a blessing turned into a living nightmare that refuses to end. Her grandmother, Smoly Khanye, speaks with a trembling voice, her eyes heavy with tears that never seem to dry.
“We wake up every morning praying for news,” she said. “But the phone stays silent. The silence is torture. It feels like our hearts are being crushed slowly, day by day.”
Tracey had responded to a message on the Idale Labomama WhatsApp group, where a woman calling herself MaNdlovu — using 0713339949 to chat — from Cowdray Park claimed she wanted to give away baby clothes. Plans kept changing. From a promised home delivery, Tracey was told to meet at the corner of Harare Road and Cecil Avenue in Parklands. Then she was told the clothes would be sent by kombi drivers.
Confused and tired, she returned home. That is when her world collapsed. One of her twin babies was gone. Alice had been briefly left in the care of a four-year-old sibling who had stepped outside to play. Moments that can never be taken back.
Soon after, the suspect’s phone went offline. Panic set in. Police were alerted. But months later, there are still no answers.
The child’s father, Sikhumbuzo Ncube, says their home has become a place of mourning.
“There is no peace anymore,” he said, his voice breaking. “Every corner of this house carries pain. We sleep thinking of our baby and wake up crying. Watching the remaining twin grow without her sister is unbearable. We are offering a US$5 000 reward for information.”
Tracey lives with crushing guilt.
“I cry every day,” she said softly. “I feel like part of me was stolen. I just want to hold my baby again. Even for a minute.”
Police spokesperson Nomalanga Msebele confirmed investigations are ongoing and pleaded with the public to help.
“If anyone has information, no matter how small, please report to the nearest police station,” she said, also warning parents to be cautious when dealing with strangers online.
As the days stretch into months, this family clings to one fragile hope. That someone, somewhere, knows something. And that baby Alice will find her way back home. Anyone with information is begged to come forward and help end this family’s suffering.
