Masemola confirms missing cops found dead in Hennops River
National Police Commissioner Fanie Masemola on Tuesday confirmed the deaths of three police officers who went missing last week.
The search for the constables led investigators to the Hennops River along the N1 in Centurion this week.
Linda Cebekhulu (24), Keamogetswe Buys (30), and Boipelo Senoge (20) went missing on Thursday while traveling from Bloemfontein to their deployment in Limpopo.
Two bodies of the officers were discovered on Monday, while the third one was discovered on Tuesday.
The bodies were identified by their families.
Two other bodies were also discovered in the river, one being that of a police admin clerk from Lyttleton Police Station, who has also been missing.
Masemola briefed the media in Pretoria on Wednesday.
"We had hoped to find our three police officers safe, unharmed and alive, but this is not the case.
"It is with deep sorrow that I confirm that our three members have been found, together with two other bodies, one being an admin clerk that is attached to our Lyttleton police station."
Masemola said the car that was used by the constables remains missing.
“We first found pieces of vehicle parts believed to be of a VW polo along the N1, that led us to the banks of the river where we found a Renault Kangoo panel van.”
"This morning, the third body was discovered which is believed to be that of Constable Linda . We further found a fourth decomposed body, we are still trying to identify who this person is.
"Later this afternoon, we sadly found the fifth body of Constable Buys. We are still searching for the VW Polo and our investigation is continuing,o he added.
Masemola said the cause of death remains under investigation.
"We don’t 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."
He said a case of culpable homicide has been opened.
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