Missing Stellenbosch couple’s car ‘found wrecked’, bodies recovered

Police and emergency services on Monday searched a large pit filled with water in which a car wreck was discovered matching the description of a vehicle driven by a couple who were reported missing in Stellenbosch.

The bodies of a male and a female were retrieved from the scene, police confirmed in an update at 1.30pm. An inquest has been opened for further investigation.

A source had earlier confirmed the vehicle matched the description of the maroon Subaru Forester in which Leila Lees, 18, and Ethan Kirkland, 19, were travelling.

They were last seen in the vehicle in the town centre on Friday.

Police on Sunday confirmed they were investigating the couple's disappearance.

“The pair was last seen at an establishment in Stellenbosch at around 5pm driving a maroon Subaru Forester,” said police spokesperson Col Andrè Traut.

The large open pit next to Bird Street has been a source of controversy in the town as it posed a potential threat to a neighbouring property.

“This morning at around 10.10 a community member spotted an object in a dam in the city centre and alerted the authorities,” police spokesperson W/O Joseph Swartbooi said in an update.

“Local police members responded and secured the scene. They noticed the wheels of a motor vehicle. They requested the assistance of the police provincial diving unit who retrieved the bodies of the two victims from the motor vehicle.

“Both were declared deceased by the medical personnel.”

• This article has been updated to reflect Kirkland's age as 19, not 22 as initially stated by SAPS.

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