Mystery surrounds the death of a 10-year-old girl from Macassar whose body was found floating in a river a day after she was reported missing.
The family of Denecke Present says they are waiting for answers on what led to the her death after she was found by a search party on Sunday afternoon.
Aunt Sakeena Samuels claims that the Grade 5 pupil from Marvin Park Primary was last seen by her family on Saturday at around 8pm.
“She was at home and left but did not say where she was going,” Sakeena says.
“When she did not return home we started to worry because this is a child who only plays here in the flats.
“We reported her missing at Macassar police station and looked everywhere but we just could not find her.
“On Sunday afternoon, we saw a whole lot of people running and heard that someone had been taken by the police with blood on his clothes. When we got there they said it was Denecke’s body.”
The klein meisie was found floating in the river in Marvin Park by family friend John van Ross, 36.
Speaking to the Daily Voice, the visibly traumatised man says he believed she had been murdered.
“We heard the police take someone away but they were not searching [for Denecke].
“I told my friend Marlon [Visser] to come with me. As we came here I got hoendervleis.
“When I found her I could see her shoes and her jeans that she was wearing and her head was completely under the water and there was a big tyre placed on top of her.”
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk confirms the girl’s discovery: “The body of a girl was found on Sunday at about 2pm at a river in Marvin Park next to the N2 in Macassar by members of the searching team.
“An inquest case was registered for investigation. A post-mortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death.”
Samuels explains that Denecke’s parents were taken to Tygerberg Mortuary on Monday morning by police, but were horrified to find that they could not recognise their daughter.
“The body had the same clothes that Denecke was wearing but the problem is her head is so swollen because of the water, that they cannot identify her face,” he adds.
“Now her parents have to go back on Tuesday as DNA tests have to be done now.
“At this stage we have been told that they do not know the cause of death yet, so it’s not clear if she was murdered. But I do know that she wouldn’t have gone to swim at that river.
“We were told that two men were taken in for questioning after they were seen walking with Denecke.
“An eyewitness claimed to have seen them and that Denecke was scared.”
Van Wyk confirms that two men, aged 51 and 39, have been taken in for questioning, and says the investigation is ongoing.