Police are investigating the death of Queen Mthembu from Lakeside near Evaton in Johannesburg after she went missing on June 11.

Weeks later, on July 3, she was found murdered and dumped in an open field, her body burnt and her neck slit with a knife.

Mthembu went missing after she received a call from a friend around 18:00 in the evening and never made it back home.

Her family resorted to a search party the next day. Friends and family went on a manhunt near open spaces and dumping sites to find the missing 23-year-old mother of one, but their efforts didn’t yield good results.

The gruesome discovery was later made by a passerby who then alerted the local police. Mthembu’s family was called to the scene later that day to identify her.

Speaking to Sedibeng Ster at her family home in Lakeside Extension 2, Deliwe Mthembu (41), her mother, said she last saw her daughter when a friend picked her up.

“Queen left after she received a call from a friend to go and buy skhambane (bunny chow). I learnt that on the day she was attacked by some local residents. She fled the scene and hid at another friend’s place fearing for her life,” she said.

“She never got home that day and no one could tell us what happened when she went missing.”

Asked why Mthembu was allegedly attacked, her mother said it was allegedly about a post she made on a social media group.

“I fail to understand why the person who created the page was never attacked but my child was attacked,” she said.

Deliwe said she want justice for the murder of her daughter.

“I’m weak. I feel as if I’m dreaming. All I want is justice for my daughter. I know there are some people who know what happened to my child,” she added.

A community leader, Gcinile Sithole, who helped form a manhunt to locate the deceased, condemned the killing of Queen and hoped for justice for the family.

Gauteng provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant Mavela Masondo said a case of murder was opened and no suspects have been arrested.