No arrests have been made in the gruesome murder of two men whose headless bodies were also found with both their feet and hands hacked off at Avontuur last Friday.

A farm worker stumbled across the mutilated bodies during a patrol, following a barrage of shots heard piercing the night on Friday morning, just after midnight.

Shortly after the volley of gunshots, which neighbours said sounded like 9mm weapons being fired, attempts were made to contact the farm owner, who was in Durban at the time of the murders, which he now knows happened on his farm.

Photos provided to the Middelburg Observer suggest that the murders did not take place in the locked farmhouse but outside the property.

Meanwhile, a Mozambican family has come forward claiming that one of the deceased might be a family member of theirs.

DNA testing will now be cross-referenced with samples taken from the particular victim and with samples taken from family members.

Both victims are still unknown, and only DNA matches will be able to formally identify the duo, since fingerprints and dental impressions could not be taken.

Three Malawian nationals were taken in for questioning hours after the bodies were discovered on Friday morning.

The worker was ordered to do a thorough patrol of the farm and surroundings after neighbours told the farm owner during telephone conversations on Friday morning, of the bloodshed that occurred on his property.

The bodies were dragged from the farm through a game fence, where they were discarded in dense bushveld.

Police not only found drag marks indicating that the bodies were lugged through tall grass towards the game fence, but blood evidence within the fenced off farm indicated that the men may have been executed before their bodies were discarded.

A tree on the farm was also found riddled with bullet holes.

The victims’ heads, hands and feet have not been located, despite a wide search of the areas around the farm.

The farm owner’s daughter and her partner reside on the farm.

The daughter and her partner were also not on the farm at the time of the murders, but were also out of town.

The farm owner has since returned to Middelburg and is assisting the police with their ongoing investigations.

The three Malawians were detained but not charged with the murders. They have, however, been charged with contravening immigration laws.

Both victims had their heads cleanly removed at the shoulders.

Their hands and feet were also cleanly hacked off, in what police believe is an attempt to hide their identities.

The Middelburg Observer has also learnt that the area was littered with more than 15 animal traps shortly before the murders.

The motive for the slayings, however, remains unclear.

The police ask those with information to come forward.

• The Observer is withholding the farm number and identity of the owner for safety reasons.