This story is full of disturbing and mature material. It also deals with violence against children and sexual assault. So please bear that in mind before listening.

Sheldean Human was born on the second of April 1999, to mother Elize and father Wikus. By the time we enter the story, Her parents divorced and Sheldean lives with her mom in Pretoria, a city north of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sheldean attended the nearby primary school, where her teachers described her as friendly and self-confident, independent, and a pretty child with her straight blonde hair cut into blunt fringe.

On the evening of Sunday 18 Feb, 2007, at about 6pm, Elize went to go socialise with a friend who lived in a flat at the back of the commune property. It’s Summer in South Africa, and the sun would still be up. Her daughter was playing in the front garden with another little girl who lived there. Mary’s mom calls her in for bath time, leaving Sheldean in the yard alone. By 6:45pm, just as the sun is starting to set, Elize heads to the front to collect Sheldean, so that they can get a jump on prepping for the school day tomorrow, but she is not where she is supposed to be.

Sources:

1. Cape Talk: http://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/257580/gentle-giant-piet-byleveld-remembered-for-his-legendary-detective-skills

2. Crimes uncovered: https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/503736/s01-e06-taken-the-sheldean-human-story?start=true

3. ENCA: https://www.enca.com/south-africa/south-africa-s-super-cop-the-top-cases-piet-byleveld-helped-crack

4. EWN: https://ewn.co.za/2017/05/24/sa-super-sleuth-piet-byleveld-dies

5. EWN: https://ewn.co.za/2017/06/01/watch-piet-byleveld-given-hero-s-send-off

6. https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2017-06-02-manhunter-bylevelds-last-case/

7. News24: https://www.news24.com/channel/tv/news/three-reasons-to-binge-gritty-cape-town-cop-drama-die-byl-20190716

8. News24: https://www.news24.com/news24/sheldeans-killer-got-what-he-deserved-20120214

9. News24: https://www.news24.com/news24/court-hears-how-sheldean-died-20080522

10. TimesLive: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2017-05-24-everything-i-believe-in-one-word-hope-piet-bylevelds-cv/

11. True Crime South Africa: https://truecrimesouthafrica.com/ and https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-04-24-podcast--sheldean-human-silence-is-deadly/

Bed music: Awen by The Mind Orchestra is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License(https://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Mind_Orchestra/The_Mind_Orchestra_-_Singles/awen)

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