Bloemfontein - A Bloemfontein woman's neighbour has been arrested after her body was found at the Raditaba sewerage dam in Hamilton, Bloemfontein on Friday, Free State police said.
The 42-year-old woman was last seen on Monday night November 7 when she went to confront a neighbour about a tree hanging into her yard at Bloemanda location, Colonel Thandi Mbambo said on Sunday.
"She informed her kids about where she was going and when she didn’t return [by] the morning her 13-year-old daughter went to inquire from the neighbour, and he confirmed that she was there but said he had accompanied her back home."
The matter was reported to the police and a missing person docket was registered. Upon investigations in the neighbour's yard, traces of blood and possible human flesh were found, as well as a burnt mattress. Samples were then referred to the forensic laboratory for tests, Mbambo said.
"At that time the neighbour was nowhere to be found. Attempts to trace him proved fruitless until on Friday the 10 November 2017 when he was traced to his hide-out in Phase 9, Mangaung. After much interrogation he led the police to the dam where the body was found."
Forensic tests would be conducted on the recovered body to determine the cause of death, to positively confirm it as that of the reported missing woman, and to check if it was compatible to traces of blood and human flesh recovered at the neighbour`s house.
The 23-year-old suspect was charged with murder and would appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on Monday, Mbambo said.