CrimeNews

UPDATE: Another woman arrested in Mooinooi case

It was believed that Mercia Witney van Rooi was engaged to one of the accused.

The woman sought by police in connection with the disappearance of  Joey and Anisha van Niekerk handed herself over to police.

ALSO READ: UPDATE: Woman sought in Mooinooi probe

The couple was reportedly on their way to Pretoria to attend a funeral, but never arrived.

Mercia Witney van Rooi handed herself over on Thursday.  said police spokesperson Warrant Officer Mpeile Talane.

Police announced last week Wednesday, they were looking for the 21-year-old woman and said the family was offering a R5 000 reward for her arrest.

Talane said Van Rooi is expected to appear in court on Monday, along with the seven persons already arrested in connection with the case.

“She will face similar charges,” he said.

ALSO READ: UPDATE: Black Friday for missing Mooinooi women

It was believed Van Rooi was engaged to one of the accused – Koos Strydom (53) – who is currently in police custody.

Strydom, along with Aaron Sithole (23); Alex Mudau (36); Moses Rakubu (33); Vincent Strydom (29); Maruschka Opperman (18); and Jack Mokotedi are facing charges of murder, rape, kidnapping, robbery, unlawful possession of a firearm and defeating the ends of justice.

Remains, believed to be those of the couple, were discovered in a bushy area in Buffelsfontein, just outside Mooinooi.

Rekord previously reported that a case of rape was also added to the accused’s list of charges they could be facing.

Our sister publication the Kormorant reported that Anisha’s brother, Wynand said that his sister and her partner were raped, tortured and murdered.

“We still haven’t received the DNA testing results,” Talane told Rekord.

The Van Niekerks’ burnt vehicle was found on 16 December in the Magaliesburg area.

ALSO READ: UPDATE: Mooinooi accused also face rape charge

Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:

Rekord East

Rekord North

Rekord Centurion

Rekord Moot

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram

At Caxton, every story is written by humans. We use AI only to perform quality checks - never to generate the news. Happy reading!

Support local journalism

Add The Citizen as a preferred source to see more from Rekord in Google News and Top Stories.

Back to top button