North Coast family devastated after missing girl found dead
The family of a five-year-old Shaka's Head girl who was found dead a week after she went missing says they’re not coping.
Minenhle Khumalo's father, Thokozani Mthethwa, says on the night of the child’s disappearance, he was helping his sister douse the flames that had engulfed her neighbour’s home.
Mthethwa says he'd locked both Minenhle and her sibling inside the house while he went to help put out the fire.
He says after an hour, he told the children’s mother to go back to the house and check on them.
This was when they discover their daughter was missing.
"When we got home, we found one window open - and it looked like someone tried to open it with a knife.
READ: Body of girl recovered from Shaka's Head railway line
"We started to unlock the doors to check if all the children were inside but when we walked in, Minenhle was nowhere to be found. By the look of it, the child was taken by someone. The next morning I was advised by one of my colleagues to go and open a case of a missing person.
The Umhlali police and community jointly searched for the five-year-old shortly after she was reported missing last week.
Her decomposed body was found on Sunday afternoon along the Shaka’s Head railway lines.
Umhlali SAPS says the child was found naked from the waist down.
A case of murder has been opened.
"The family is devastated, and we are not coping. We cannot even eat; her mother has been crying - she is not taking it well,” said Mthethwa.
