The body of 42-year-old former world high jump champion Jacques Freitag was discovered with gunshot wounds in a field near the Zandfontein cemetery in Pretoria West.

Freitag was reported missing two weeks ago. He was reportedly last seen when he left his mother’s house at around 01:00 on June 17 – with an unknown man – to [go to] a guesthouse in Pretoria West.

Local police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo says a case of murder is being investigated.

Masondo adds no one has been arrested yet.

“The discovery was made by the SAPS Search and Rescue Team which has been conducting a search for the missing person. The team included members from Air Wing with a police chopper, Water Wing and the local police.”

He says the family of the deceased has not yet identified the body.

Freitag won the World Youth Championships in Poland in 1999, World Junior Championships in Chile in 2000, and the World Championships in France in 2003, before competing in the 2004 Athen Olympic Games.

He was one of only 10 athletes to win the world championships at the youth, junior and senior levels.

Plea for help

Pretoria Rekord previously reported that his sister, Chrissie Lewis, posted a plea on Facebook saying the family last saw Freitag a day after his 42nd birthday.

Lewis, who is from Bronkhorstspruit, told the newspaper that the family had no new information on his whereabouts.

She said she opened a case at Lyttelton Police Station, which she was told was transferred to Pretoria West SAPS.