By Alex Eliseev
One of Joburg's top serial killer and sexual crimes detectives has taken on the mysterious murder of a young woman who was set alight and dumped next to a road near Orange Farm, south of Joburg.
A week after starting his investigation, Captain Mike van Aardt has released a sketch of what the victim may have looked like and a photograph of the shirt she wore when she was killed.
Van Aardt has appealed to the public to help identify the woman, believed to be aged between 15 and 20. Her identity is crucial to hunting down her killers, he said yesterday.
Van Aardt, who works with crack detective Piet Byleveld, has investigated the notorious Moffat Park serial killer, the Sheldean Human murder, the Bruma Lake serial murders and various other high-profile cases.
The woman's body was discovered in the early hours of November 16 next to Welgevonden Road. A passer-by reportedly saw the flames and called the police, although recent police reports said it was a police patrol van that came across the burning body shortly before 5am.
Police officers at the scene told detectives there were no suspicious-looking vehicles in the area and that patrol cars in the vicinity had been alerted immediately. But as the morning traffic rush began, it became impossible to spot suspicious-looking cars.
The well-groomed white woman weighed around 60kg and was 1,7 metres tall.
She had blonde hair about 35cm long, wore a size 4 shoe and a size 34A bra. Her fingernails were painted a pearl colour and her toes had red nailpolish.
She lay about a metre from the main road and no effort had been made to hide her body.
Anyone with information is urged to call Van Aardt on 082 575 '8.