The family of a man whose body was found half-naked in a bush in Mitchells Plain says he was innocent and didn’t deserve to die so brutally.
Adriaan “Gelaggies” de Vos, 26, was found with a gunshot wound to the head, four stab wounds to his chest, his hands and feet tied with plastic and his pants were removed.
His hooded jacket was also wrapped around his head and his socks stuffed into his mouth.
His body was found on a field between Cedar High School and Spine View Primary School in Rocklands.
Adriaan was last seen alive by his family on Friday, August 12.
In a chilling twist, his body was found in a bush along Weltevreden and Spine Road, once the dumping ground of the notorious Station Strangler.
His death also bears similarities to the young victims of the serial killer, most notably the way he was tied up and his pants pulled down. The Strangler sodomised young boys before strangling them to death.School teacher, Norman “Afzal” Simons, who was fingered as the Station Strangler, was sentenced to 25 years for the murder of only one boy, nine-year-old Elroy van Rooyen.
Adriaan’s sister, Auriel De Vos, 35, says they don’t know if her brother was sexually assaulted as police have not come to see them yet.
Yesterday the family had the difficult task of identifying his body at Salt River mortuary.
“We last saw Adriaan on Friday and on Monday while I was at work, a relative contacted me saying they found him the bush.
“He was identified by a friend by his tattoos,” says Auriel.
She said Adriaan had a tattoo of their mother’s name on his chest.
“He used to stand along Spine Road where the Wynberg taxis stop, helping people with their bags,” she explains.
“He was on drugs, yes, but he wasn’t a gangster.
“He was called ‘Gelaggies’ since he was small because he always had a smile on his face.
“He didn’t harm anyone and wasn’t a violent person to deserve such a death.
“We do not know why someone would do this to him.”
Police’s Noloyiso Rwexana confirmed there were no arrests for the murder yet.