Police have positively identified three of the five bodies found in the Hennops River near Centurion on Tuesday afternoon as the bodies of three missing police constables.
Speaking to the media at the scene near the N1, National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, confirmed that the bodies were identified by family members as those of Constables Linda Cebekhulu (24), Keamogetswe Buys (30), and Boipelo Senoge (20).
The three police constables disappeared last Wednesday while traveling from Bloemfontein to their deployment area in Limpopo.
Masemola said a high-level team tasked with investigating their disappearance spent “sleepless nights combing the length and breadth of Gauteng, Free State and Limpopo”.
“Following possible leads our investigation led us to between the Grasmere Toll Plaza on the N1, past the Buccleugh interchange, onto John Voster Drive.”
Monday, 28 April
“On Monday, our investigation and search led us to the Hennops River in Centurion.”
During the initial search, police found what was believed to be pieces of the VW polo the officers were traveling in along the N1 near where the bodies were found. This led them to a Renault Kangoo panel van.
“Our police and Tshwane metro divers immediately commenced with the search, where we discovered two bodies,” Masemola said.
The first was identified as the driver of the Renault panel van, an employee of the Lyttleton Police Station, according to Masemola.
“The second body was that of Constable Senoge. We had to abandon the search as it was already dark.”
Tuesday, 29 April
On Tuesday morning, a third body was discovered which was believed to be that of Constable Linda.
Police then found a fourth decomposed body. The identity of this fourth body remains unknown.
“Later this (Tuesday) afternoon, we sadly found the fifth body, that of Constable Buys.”
The VW Polo the constables were traveling in has yet to be recovered.
Masemola did not disclose the cause of deaths and said police did not want to speculate on any of the details. Instead, he thanked the families and the task team involved in the search.
“This is not how we expected this case to unfold, we were hoping for a positive outcome. Be that as it may, we are relieved that we could provide the painful closure to the families and the broader SAPS family.”
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