The remains of a four-year-old girl, who went missing in Masoleng in Watville outside Benoni on October 10, have been found.

The police have confirmed that the family of Bokgabo Poo have positively identified the mutilated body of a child found in a field in Wattville on October 11 as their missing daughter.

According to a relative of the family, DNA samples of Poo’s parents matched that of the child.

Poo went missing in the area on October 10 while playing with a friend in Masoleng Park.

The grisly discovery of a mutilated body in a field in Wattville a day later came after residents noticed dogs packing around something on the ground.

The Benoni City Times was on the scene and spoke to provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo.

He explains that the police first received a call from residents about a human leg found in the yard of a house in Wattville.

The homeowner came across the leg, which was buried, while sweeping her yard.

“Upon arrival, police found the leg buried in her yard. While searching the yard, officers were then alerted by residents to the mutilated body of a child in a nearby field,” says Masondo.

Masondo says a case of murder was opened and a team consisting of seasoned police officers from the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, forensic experts, Occult Related Crimes Unit and local detectives were formed to investigate the case.

“A 30-year-old man is expected to appear in the Benoni Magistrate’s Court tomorro following his arrest on Friday. He was spotted by a member of the community in Boksburg North, who then swiftly alerted the police. He was the last person seen with Bokgabo,” says Masondo.

The provincial commissioner of police in Gauteng, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela, commended the police and community members in the search for the missing child and for the collection of evidence that led to the arrest of the suspect.