Durban - Police say the body believed to be that of a Chilean tourist found at a Ladysmith mortuary at the weekend had stab wounds.
Slavko “Kako” Yaksic, 29, who had been missing since September 25, was last seen alive in Dundee.
Police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said that the body still had to be identified through DNA.
“The inquest docket was opened and has been changed to murder by the Ladysmith SAPS after investigations revealed that the victim was stabbed,” she said.
Weekend papers reported that Yaksic had arrived in South Africa with his girlfriend at the beginning of August.
After visiting the National Kruger Park and other sights, his girlfriend left for Chile and he stayed behind with the intention of backpacking and travelling further in the country.
Yaksic’s father Sergio Yaksic said he had no doubt that the body found in the mortuary was that of his son.
“Today, October 20, I recognised the body in the local mortuary and afterwards, I went to the place where his body was found and located some of his belongings and identification documents (Chilean ID, bank cards, driving licence),” he said.
He was profoundly sad but at the same time calm, with the feeling that his son had been a very happy person, especially in the last few years.
“He had an enviable spiritual growth, an emotional maturity that for all of us generated a tranquility by seeing him.
“Slavko is not dead; he is travelling, in a place where he is loved and valued, knowing new cultures, new people, and making people that are with him, happy to be with him,” he said.
The moment he recognised the body as his son’s, he phoned his wife, Patricia, he said.
“Patricia has been an excellent mother to my three children, and I knew only she would know the pain that is felt in this moment. After that, we let our children and our mothers know,” he said.
He thanked everyone who had supported the family.
“This support allows us to finish with our sad moment and affliction,” he said.