Satanism and the muti-trade in body parts form part of the police investigation into the gruesome murder of a 24-year-old Welkom man at the weekend, Free State police said on Tuesday.
Captain Stephan Thakeng said police were on Tuesday still looking for missing body parts of Michael van Eck, who was found in a shallow grave in the Welkom cemetery on Sunday morning.
“The body didn't have a head, a right arm, or left foot and both legs were amputated at the knees,” said Thakeng.
He said police contacted Van Eck's parents after finding his car at a Welkom taxi rank on Sunday morning.
They said he had gone on a date on Saturday night and should have been at work on Sunday morning, however, his employer later told the police that he did not arrive for work.
The employer said Van Eck was to have met his date Ä a girl he met on the social networking site facebook Ä at the Welkom cemetery.
There, police found Van Eck's shirt. Police sniffer dogs found the shallow grave.
Thakeng said a 23-year-old man caught with Van Eck's vehicle had since appeared in the Welkom Magistrates' Court on a theft charge.
“We cannot link the man with the murder.” The matter was postponed until April 12 for a bail application.
Thakeng said a police task team was investigating the matter. -
Sapa