WHILE the Free State is still trying to come to terms with the gruesome murder of a 16-year-old girl who been reported missing, yet another woman has been found dead in the province.
The lifeless body of Jessica Michael, a 28-year-old social worker and mother of a two-year-old, was discovered on Tuesday this week at the Kalkfontein Dam outside her hometown in Koffiefontein.
She had been reported missing on 6 December.
Her father, Andrew Michael, said his family was reeling in shock following the discovery of his daughter’s body.
“The whole family is heartbroken, we cannot work through this, this is tough,” he told the SABC.
“We are looking for answers, but we don’t get the answers. The other thing is we didn’t see it coming, more especially for a tough and positive person like her.”
According to the police, Jessica’s workmates became concerned when she failed to report for duty on 6 December.
She was reportedly last seen at her office at about 1500 hours the previous day.
“They became suspicious when she did not respond to their calls,” provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele said in a statement.
“On further inquiries, it was established that she dropped off her baby at her mother’s place but did not return to pick her up after work.
“She was seen driving alone in the direction of the dam.”
Police initiated a search and her vehicle was found at the Kalkfontein Dam with no traces of the victim.
“Nothing was missing from the vehicle with her cellphone and purse still inside,” Makhele said.
“Her body was found on 11 December 2023 in shallow water on the other side of the damwall from where her vehicle was found.”
Jessica is the latest missing person to be found dead in the Free State.
A total of three women reported missing within the last three weeks ago have now been found dead.
Sixteen-year-old Machaka Radebe was laid to rest in Bloemfontein over the weekend after her lifeless body was discovered by a passerby two days after she was reported missing.
She had been kidnapped from her home two weeks ago, with her family opening a kidnapping case after an unknown man allegedly answered her phone, demanding ransom.
Police Minister Bheki Cele said a team of investigators had been put together to look into the growing number of young women going missing in the Free State.
He confirmed that Radebe was one of four young women who went missing in the province over the last month.
“Radebe was the fourth young female to go missing in Bloemfontein in the past month,” Cele said.
“Twenty-eight-year-old Kelebogile Seramone’s body was found on the 23rd of October 2023, while 23-year-old Lerato Masiu and 22-year-old Mamello Motaung are still missing.”
Meanwhile, police in Mangaung have appealed for help from the community to find Sibongile Portia Ngwana.
She was reported missing on 28 November.
According her family, the police said, Ngwana left home on the evening of 26 November going to the shops but she has not found since.
At the time of her disappearance she was wearing blue jeans with a white shirt and black shoes. – Staff Reporter