Cape Town - A young mother's body was so badly mutilated that her family could only recognise her by her hair.
The decomposed body of Annuska Samuels, 25, was found floating in a dam on Clearwood farm in Joostenbergvlakte on Tuesday afternoon.
She was wrapped in a blue plastic bag, which was spotted by a family who went for lunch on the smallholding.
Annuska's mother, Collett Samuels, 44, says her daughter disappeared three weeks ago, and they reported her missing to police.
Collett, from Scottsdene in Kraaifontein, says Annuska was a troubled young woman who'd had run-ins with the law before.
"I don't want to cover up for my child, she was naughty and did a lot of illegal things," her mother said.
"She stole our things and sold it off. She regularly ran off, but then we'd always find her in Pollsmoor prison."
Collett said police called them to come and identify Annuska's body at the state morgue in Tygerberg.
"She went missing three weeks ago, leaving her five-year-old daughter with me. At the mortuary, we could only identify her by her dreadlocks, her face was so badly damaged. She was still wearing the grey track top she had on when she disappeared, but her shoes were missing."
Captain FC Van Wyk says no foul play is suspected and an inquest docket has been opened for investigation.
Daily Voice