The Free State police have intensified their search for a missing head following the discovery of four bodies in Botshabelo.

So far, three of the four murdered bodies – recently discovered in a nearby stream – have been identified by family members. 

The Provincial Police Commissioner, Baile Motswenyane. Photo: Kekeletso Mosebetsi

On Tuesday morning (6/2), the Free State police, led by the Provincial Commissioner Baile Motswenyane, conducted further searches in the area where the bodies were discovered.

“This is our hotspot area [for crime]. So we came here in big numbers so that we can start to search this area as we saw it’s becoming a big problem for us as the Free State,” said Motswenyane.

She added today’s intensified search operation was to ensure there were no other bodies left behind in the area despite a thorough search conducted last week. No arrests have been made yet and investigations continue.

On 22 January, the body of an unknown man in his 40s was discovered floating in a stream in Botshabelo. The body was found with multiple stab wounds in the chest and thighs, with his throat slit. The hands of the deceased were tied, while small bags of sand were wrapped around his hands.

On 29 January, Lebohang Julia Khutsoane (52) was reported missing and her body was also discovered near the Sepone River. While police were busy searching for her body parts, they discovered another female body floating in a river, 50m from the other crime scene.

On Friday (2/2), police came across the body of a 43-year-old between a railway line and a stream while they were busy conducting further searches. Motswenyane said all four bodies, two females and two males, had multiple stab wounds and were all found not far from each other inside the stream located in dense and thick vegetation along the N8 adjacent to the railway line.

The suspect(s) used stones from the railway tracks. Cases of murder have been opened. Police have urged the public to avoid meeting up in that area.

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi cg