The body of a 79-year-old Brakpan woman who was reported missing last week was found at her home on Monday (yesterday).
The Taft Avenue resident, whose identity is known to the Herald, was reported missing to police by her son (54) on Thursday.
Information reported to police indicated that the woman was last seen by her son that morning and she allegedly told him she was going to visit a friend then walk to the shops.
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According to Capt Pearl van Staad, spokesperson for Brakpan police, a tip-off about the case was received on Monday.
“We received information that the son was behaving suspiciously over the weekend and police were summoned to the house,” she said.
“Upon arrival, the man was found sitting outside looking distressed.”
Further suspicion was aroused when police found two pairs of boots with dried cement caked onto them and a large plastic drum filled with hardened cement.
“The man was interrogated and said he suffocated his mother to death with a pillow while she was asleep,” said van Staad.
“He then mixed cement in a drum outside and forcefully pressed her lifeless body into it.”
A large section of the street was cordoned off for most of the day and a police forensic team worked late into the afternoon.
“Forensics found her body after cutting open the drum,” said van Staad.
While at the residence, police also found the woman’s bank card had been used to purchase a new television set on Friday.
The TV and a receipt were found in the house.
The woman’s son was arrested, along with another man.
He is not related to the family.
The pair is due to appear in the Brakpan Magistrate’s Court this week.
*The Herald has withheld the identity of the victim as this could lead to the identification of her son. The Criminal Procedure Act of 1977 prohibits the publication of the identity of the accused before they appear in court and plead.
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