Police find Dismembered Body in Cemetery

2011-04-04

Free State police said on Monday that the dismembered body of a 23-year-old man had been found in the Welkom cemetery.

Spokesperson Stephen Thakeng said that the body of Michael van Eck had been found in a shallow grave on Sunday morning.

"The body didn't have a head, a right arm, or left foot and both legs had been amputated at the knees."

Thakeng said Van Eck's car was found abandoned at a Welkom taxi rank on Sunday morning and police phoned his parents to enquire about his whereabouts.

Van Eck's parents told police that he went on a date on Saturday night and should have been at work on Sunday morning.

When police phoned his employer, they confirmed that he had gone on a date with a girl he had met on the social website Facebook the night before, but he did not pitch up for work on Sunday.

His employer said Van Eck and his date would have met at the Welkom cemetery, which prompted police and his family to go to the scene.
"At the entrance we found a shirt which the parents confirmed belonged to their son.

"Our K9 unit was called in and they found the shallow grave."

Thakeng said a 23-year-old man had been taken into custody for questioning after he had claimed he was picking up the abandoned car in the taxi rank for a friend.

"We suspect occult issues, that's why we have deployed our task team to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book."

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