A family have identified clothing items of their 15-year-old daughter who went missing in January.
Her decomposed body was discovered in the bushes at Nkanini Trust near Masoyi outside White River on Sunday.
Children from an initiation school who were in the bushes searching for wooden sticks when they trembled upon a human skeleton. Police were alerted and upon their arrival, the Forensic Unit later confirmed it was a human skeleton. They also found clothing items believed to be of the victim.
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“An inquest case was opened but later changed to murder after the Detectives team did some groundwork,” said the police.
The police further connected the murder to a little girl who went missing in December 2021. Her family reported the girl missing in the beginning of January 2022.
“Preliminary investigation by a team of experts revealed the skeleton could be that of the 15-year-old girl. The family believes it is her as they identified the dress that was found at the scene. Further investigations led to a woman storming into the police station at Masoyi on 15 August. She claimed some members of the community wanted to kill her. They allegedly accused her of shielding the suspect,” read the police statement.
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More information was given to the police by the Community Policing Forum member. The information led to the whereabouts of the suspect. The 24-year-old suspect who was attempting to flee was arrested at Malelane. They charged him for murder and defeating the ends of justice. He will appear at the Masoyi Periodical Court today.
