A human skeleton was discovered in a bush in Nkanini Trust near Masoyi, outside White River on Sunday August 14 at 10:00.

A provincial police spokesperson, Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, said children from an initiation school were in the bush looking for some sticks and stumbled upon the skeleton.

“The police were alerted and, upon their arrival, all other role players were summoned to the scene. The forensic unit later confirmed the skeleton is a human one. The members also found some clothes believed to be of the victim.

“An inquest case was opened, but was later changed to murder after some groundwork was done by the detective team,” he said.

Mohlala said that the police connected the dots and discovered a little girl who had gone missing in December 2021 being reported as such by her family at the beginning of January 2022. A preliminary investigation by the team of experts in the investigation field revealed that the skeleton could be that of the 15-year-old girl who vanished without a trace.

“The family believes it is her, as they identified the dress that was found at the scene. While investigating the case, a woman stormed into the police station in Masoyi on August 15, claiming that some community members wanted to kill her after being accused of shielding the suspect.

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“The police managed to calm the situation while requesting the members of the public to leave everything in the hands of the police.

“The team received crucial information in their probe from a member of a community policing forum regarding the whereabouts of the suspect,” said Mohlala.

He said the 24-year-old male suspect has since been charged with murder as well as defeating the ends of justice. He is due to appear in the Masoyi Periodical Court on Wednesday, August 17.