South Africa- The three police officers who went missing last week have been found dead, the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS), General Fannie Masemola, has confirmed.
The bodies of Constable Keamogetswe Buys, Constable Boipelo Senoge, and Constable Cebekhulu Linda were among the five bodies recovered from the Hennops River.
The three cops’ bodies were identified by their families at the Tshwane mortuary.
Speaking during a media briefing at the river on Tuesday night, Masemola said
“It has been a difficult six days for members of the South African Police Service and affected families, as we searched everywhere for our three missing police officers,” Masemola said.
The trio was last seen in the early hours of Thursday at a petrol station near the Grasmere Toll Plaza on the N1 in Gauteng.
Their vehicle, a Volkswagen Polo hatchback with registration number JCL 401 FS, along with their cellphones and tracking device, were switched off after they left the station.
Masemola said a high-level team of investigators had worked tirelessly across Gauteng, the Free State, and Limpopo following all possible leads.
Their search eventually led to an area along the N1 highway, stretching from the Grasmere Toll Plaza past the Buccleuch interchange and onto John Vorster Drive in Centurion.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I am unfortunately not the bearer of good news this evening,” said Masemola.
“We had hoped to find our three police officers safe, unharmed, and alive, but this is not the case.”
He confirmed that five bodies were found in the river, including the three missing officers and two others. One of the other victims was identified as an administrative clerk attached to the Lyttelton Police Station.
Masemola detailed how investigators, with the assistance of the SAPS drone unit, the cybercrime and crime intelligence divisions, the Hawks, Gauteng Traffic Airwing, and Bidvest Protea Coin Airwing, made the breakthrough on Monday.
“On Monday, we found vehicle parts believed to be from a VW Polo along the N1 near the Hennops River. That led us to a Renault Kangoo panel van at the riverbank,” he said.
Divers from SAPS and the City of Tshwane began searching the area, recovering two bodies—the driver of the panel van, later confirmed to be the SAPS admin clerk, and Constable Senoge.
As night fell, the search was suspended due to the lack of visibility and safety concerns.
The following morning, the third body, believed to be that of Constable Linda, was recovered.
Later, a fourth decomposed body was found, and identification efforts are ongoing. IOL