Three bodies, one head

14 April 2015 - 02:14 By Graeme Hosken

The police are dumbfounded by the discovery of a third headless body near the East Rand township of Etwatwa. Without the heads, identifying the bodies is difficult and the police are desperate for information from the public that could help them in their investigation.The first headless body was found in May last year and the third behind a shack three weeks ago.Officers arrested the 28-year-old tenant of the shack but the police yesterday declined to say whether the man has been linked to the other murders.Investigating officer Captain Kgabo Mohlamme said: "At the moment we have very little information. We are desperate for people to come forward if they are missing a loved one."The Times has learned that the first body was found in a field by a passer-by in May last year. The head had been neatly severed and the stomach cut open. The heart was missing.The second body was found in December next to the Etwatwa off-ramp on the N12. All the limbs and the head were missing.A few days after that discovery a man carrying a badly decomposed head in a bag was arrested in Sharpeville, in the Vaal Triangle.The man has been charged with being in the illegal possession of human tissue and is in custody.He reportedly told the police that the head was that of his father but DNA tests showed no relationship.The head has not been identified as belonging to any of the three bodies found so far.A policeman with knowledge of the four cases said the motive for the killings was unknown.Said the source: "All the victims were men. All were found either naked or half dressed, and all had their heads chopped off and were missing organs or limbs."Investigators are looking at a number of motives, including Satanism or witchcraft."The source said officers from the Gauteng provincial task team were trying to identify the victims and the killer."No one knows who the victims are."There are so many missing people, it is difficult to establish [the victims'] identities."..

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