In the latest development on the ongoing investigations into the deaths of three police officers, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has confirmed that police found a police reflector jacket belonging to one of the three deceased police officers whose bodies were recovered from the Hennops River in Centurion on Tuesday.
National police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe said search and rescue teams found vehicle parts in the river. These include a front and rear vehicle bumper.
Mathe said police experts are yet to establish if the vehicle parts found are linked to the VW Polo sedan that the deceased cops were travelling in when they went missing last week Thursday.
Front and rear vehicle bumper
“SAPS confirms that vehicle parts including a front and rear vehicle bumper have been found by the search and rescue teams working on this operation. All three families have been notified of this latest development. Experts are trying to establish if these vehicle parts are linked to the VW polo that the three police officers were travelling in. A police reflector jacket belonging to one of the deceased police officers has also been found,” said Mathe.
She also said police have located a metal object that they suspect may be the missing vehicle.
Objects being tested
“SAPS divers, City of Tshwane divers and EMS, SAPS Special Task Force (STF) divers, Search and Rescue South Africa, have located a metal object that they suspect may be the missing vehicle. This metal object was felt by divers 4km from the N1. There is no confirmation as yet as this metal object is covered by debris. SAPS Crime Intelligence, the cybercrime unit, detectives, Lyttleton Community Police Forum (CPF) Traffic, fidelity secure fire, vision tactical private security are also forming part of this operation,” said Mathe.
On Tuesday, police recovered three bodies belonging to Constables Cebekhulu Linda, 24, Keamogetswe Buys, 30 and Boipelo Senoge, 20, in the Hennops River in Centurion, Pretoria.
Police also recovered two more bodies. One of the bodies is of another police officer attached to Lyttelton police station. The other body, which was decomposed, has not yet been identified.
Went missing on Thursday
Linda, Buys and Senoge were reported missing after they were last seen last week Thursday. They were travelling in a white VW Polo sedan from Bloemfontein to their area of deployment in Limpopo.
Their last known location was at the Engen garage near the Grasmere toll plaza on the N1. This was in the early hours of Thursday morning last week. They were off duty at the time and did not make it to their destination.
Their vehicle tracking device and cellphones have been off since the day of their disappearance. The vehicle registration number is JCL 401 FS.
Police are still searching for the white VW Polo sedan they were travelling in.
During Tuesday’s search, police also found a Renault Kangoo panel van on the banks of the Hennops River. The vehicle belongs to the deceased Lyttelton Police Station admin clerk.
Culpable homicide
National Police Commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola said police are currently investigating a case of culpable homicide.
“The families were taken to the mortuary [on Tuesday] where they have identified the bodies. We are still searching for the VW Polo and our investigation is continuing.
“We do not want to speculate at this stage what led to the discovery of these bodies in this river. Whether it was an accident or not. Our investigation will reveal those aspects once we find their vehicle.
“We would like to thank the families and the task team involved in the search for working tirelessly. Their efforts ensured a breakthrough in this case. This is not how we expected this case to unfold, we were hoping for a positive outcome,” said Masemola.
