Two men have been arrested after a sports teacher mum of one was murdered with her body buried in a shallow grave that was then discovered with the help of sniffer dogs.
The suspects are the victim’s boyfriend Reinhardt Leach, 33, and his alleged accomplice Dylan Cullis, 24, and they appeared before the Magistrate’s Court in the city of Gqeberha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province yesterday (Monday, 25th October).
The woman victim has been named as 42-year-old Vicky Terblanche, who is the mother of a 12-year-old boy, not named, from a previous relationship.
Her body was found in the shallow grave over the weekend and police spokesperson Priscilla Naidu is quoted by local media outlet EWN as saying: “After intense investigation, detectives, with the assistance of the K-9 search and rescue unit, found the body of the missing woman, Vicky Terblanche, buried in a shallow grave in an open field in green bushes.”
She added: “A post-mortem will be done to determine the cause of death.”
Leach has been charged with murder, as well as Cullis, according to local media outlet The Herald, which also reported that police spokesperson Naidu confirmed that the victim had been reported missing on Thursday (21st October).
Naidu is quoted by them as saying: “It is alleged that on Friday evening at about 9:50pm, Mount Road police were alerted to a suspicious house in a complex in 1st Avenue in Millpark.
“On arrival, police found that the doors including the garage door was wide open.”
She added that when they realised something was wrong, they called in a forensic team. Naidu added: “While still at the house, a 32-year-old male arrived and indicated that he lived there.
“Detectives recognised the male as he had reported his girlfriend missing on Thursday at the Mount Road police station.”
They took him in for questioning and this led to them identifying the 24-year-old man, who they also questioned.
Both men have been charged with murder. Police spokesperson Naidu said: “Circumstances leading to her fatal demise is under investigation.” (sic)
