Shannon Lee Roberts murder suspect nabbed in Uruguay
Updated | By Gcinokuhle Malinga
The family of slain Amanzimtoti teenager Shannon Lee Roberts say they are relieved the international manhunt for her alleged killer has come to an end.
Police in Uruguay arrested a 25-year-old South African man - believed to be Dylan Dean Taljaard - walking around in La Pedrera on Friday.
Taljaard was on an Interpol wanted list and has been on the run for seven years.
It is thought he had been travelling with false papers.
He skipped the country months after Shannon's body was found in a dense bush at Doonside Beach in November 2014.
It's alleged that Shannon had gone down to the beach from a friend's house to meet Taljaard. They were both 18 at the time.
READ: Gardener jailed for murder of elderly Durban employer
Shannon's adoptive father Gavin Roberts says their hope for justice has been restored.
"We have traced him to a couple of places and he was actually located in Brazil and because if Covid he was managed to slip away there. So we were very fortunate to get a tip.
"The person that I got the tip from was somebody he had been involved with her sister and the sister went and reported an assault case at the police station and she Googled and she found that there was actually a murder docket against him.
"So she contacted me and I passed on all that information to the police and that how they found him. There's a trial ahead now but at least justice will now prevail."
Local police say they will release information on the arrest and extradition of the suspect this week.
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