Cape Town - The sister-in-law of slain Ukrainian tourist Ivan Ivanov has written a heartbreaking letter to the Hout Bay community, thanking them for helping to apprehend the man who allegedly killed him.
The letter, sent over WhatsApp to a local resident, reveals that Ivanov had three university degrees and spoke four languages fluently.
He was a father of three, with his youngest being just two years old.
Ivanov was stabbed to death for his backpack, while he was hiking on Chapman’s Peak drive above Hout Bay on Saturday morning.
Teamwork by local residents and security professionals led to the arrest of a 25-year-old, who was found in possession of Ivanov’s backpack and confessed to the murder.
Director of Community Crime Prevention (CCP), Keri Cross, speaks about why members of the Hout Bay community as well as the local security community gathered at the East Fort. Cross said they came to pay their respects to the Ukrainian tourist who was stabbed when he was robbed while visiting the site. Video: David Ritchie/African News Agency(ANA).
Ivanov’s sister-in-law, Dina, wrote the following letter and asked that it be shared with the Hout Bay community:
“I would like to say thank you to the community for helping to find the criminals who took his life so tragically. And thank you for your prayers and commemorating his memory.
“Ivan was a wonderful person with a very good and kind heart. He was a loving husband to my twin sister Tina and a great father of 3 children (Glen, 20; Taisia, 11; and Makar, 2).
“He was a hard-working professional being one of the few people in the world specialising in his area of agricultural inspection. He had 3 university degrees. He started as a sailor and finished Marine Academy, then did Economics degree and Law degree in the UK.
“He fluently spoke 4 languages and was learning new languages as well. Ivan loved military history and was always reading books.
“We don’t know how to survive this tragic loss. Ivan was only 44. His wife is now a widow, his 3 children lost their father. His elderly mother is struggling to grasp the terrible news.
“Ivan was a Christian (Russian Orthodox). I would like to ask for your prayers for him and his family.
“I would appreciate if you could share my message within the Facebook local community group.”