Police are trying to identify the body of a woman who was found on a hockey field in Athlone on Tuesday afternoon.
A passerby walking in the bush near the Mary Harding School hockey field came across the decomposing body of the woman, believed to be in her mid-30s.
A witness, at the scene, says they are asking around in the area if anyone had a missing relative.
“We are asking around if people have any family members who have not come home, or if they know of anyone acting suspiciously or may have seen anything near the bush area,” the witness said.
The Athlone Community Policing Forum’s Aziza Kannemeyer says they are trying to find the woman’s family.
“When the body was discovered it was decomposed, so she must have been there for a while,” Aziza says.
“The priority is to get the body identified and to determine what happened to her. The area where the body was found is a known hive for criminal activity and the woman could have been lying in the bushes for a while. The vlei area is a known hotspot with a lot of criminal activity. It is also a known hideout for criminals.”
Police spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel André Traut, says: “The circumstances surrounding the death of a female in her thirties are being investigated after her body was discovered on a hockey field in Athlone on Tuesday afternoon.
“No one has been arrested.”
robin.francke@inl.co.za