A week or so prior to the unknown intruders breaking into her place and turning it upside down, she had noticed a strange white light in the forest which turned red as she was watching it. That was about the same time the gardener of the property had noticed two young coloured guys near her cottage one day, but they fled when he approached them.
"I loathe the idea that they must have been watching me from the bushes around this property," she says about what had always been a peaceful estate on Salt River Road.
"Strangely enough, I had this odd uneasiness Friday afternoon and I just didn't want to go home - instead of going to my cottage when I was done in town in the afternoon I just found an open parking bay in the Main Road and I stayed there for about twenty minutes before a friend phoned," she recalls.
Eventually Procter only arrived back at her cottage at about 21:50 that evening.
Several families live on the estate with many people coming and going, yet incidentally Procter's dogs were elsewhere for the day and the intruders managed to gain entry to the property without being spotted some time during the day.
Most likely weary of being spotted from the main house, they broke open the back window of her cottage, foregoing two open windows which are on the other, visible side of the cottage.
"As I opened the front door I saw that my grocery cupboard was open," she describes the scene on her return home. "My first thought was that it was baboons, but then I realised the bowl of naartjies on the table would have been gone and it was still there."
As she switched on the lights she was dismayed to see that the place had been turned upside down.
"They went through everything. My grandfather Dr Desmond Procter's beautiful leather journal in which he had written poetry during WWII, was torn. There was a half-eaten chunk of cheese and an apple lying around. I wasn't afraid, but you just feel so awful knowing someone had been in your private space. Aren't we safe anywhere anymore?"
Having dealt with many crime scenes as a professional trauma counsellor for victims of rape, Procter made sure not to touch anything before the police's Forensic Unit could assess the scene. After calling a friend and the landlord, who showed up immediately and contacted the police, they listed all the missing valuables.
"The police said they were very busy as they had four other burglaries to attend to and might not make it to me," remembers Procter, who then contacted Cheryl Britz of the Community Policing Forum for assistance the next day.
It seems that the intruders were interrupted as two bags of stolen goods were left behind. They made off with a long list of household goods, including a ring of great sentimental value and speakers for a laptop.
But the most valuable item, RapeOutcry's camera and tripod, was a hugely frustrating loss. The Canon 550D DSLR camera (body and kit lens 18-55mm) worth R6 850 (unconfirmed price) with microphone (R1 250), tripod (R1 500) and 4G CF memory card (R800) were in her office.
"They are stealing from themselves. We had just started filming interviews for Fostering a Violent-Free Future and now I am unable to continue," she says, nonetheless remaining determined to channel the automatic negative feelings from such an experience into productive energy. "The ironic thing is there was still footage about trauma on the memory card!"
The police and Forensic Unit showed up on Saturday morning, July 21 and managed to lift several good fingerprints off various items. "They were great. I really want to thank Cheryl Britz and Chris Spies and all the police officers who were there because they were excellent. I really did appreciate their effort and concern," said Procter.
Knysna police spokesperson, Constable Chris Spies confirmed that goods to the value of R19 200 were stolen.
"The patrol vehicles were already busy with other complaints at the time when this matter was reported and the first vehicle that became available attended to her complaint. We want to thank the complainant for her patience," said Spies.
No arrests were made in these specific cases. Investigation into these matters continues.
Anyone with information on these incidents or the whereabouts of stolen items is urged to contact the investigation officer, Constable Waldo Olivier at 044 302 6652.
(Procter is set to start a second support group for victims of rape in Hornlee next Monday, July 30 at the Hornlee library from 19:00 to 21:00.)
The Canon 550D DSLR Camera (body and kit lens 18-55mm) worth R6 850, which was used to document RapeOutcry's many projects.
ARTICLE: ANOESCHKA VON MECK, KNYSNA-PLETT HERALD JOURNALIST
