I knew it was Zephany when I first saw her, says cop who searched for her for five years

The moment he laid eyes on Zephany Nurse he knew she was the baby kidnapped in 1997, according to a report.

Lt-Col Mike Barkhuizen, who works for the Hawks, had been searching for Zephany, now 17, for the past five years.

According to Beeld newspaper, the results of the DNA tests were just a formality to him, he said. He knew instantly it was her after meeting her on the afternoon of February 24.

"I was very happy for the parents that their child had been found."

Zephany was found after her biological parents' second daughter, born four years after Zephany's disappearance, started grade eight at a school in Cape Town this year.

Classmates kept telling her a girl in matric looked just like her.

The two girls became friends and eventually the younger girl's father pretended he wanted to meet his daughter's new friend.

The likeness was remarkable and he approached the police. The older girl's parents could not show them any record of her birth.

They got permission to take DNA, and confirmed her identity. The mother who raised her will appear in court again on Friday.