Deceased’s Land Cruiser found abandoned in Thamakalane River
Maun Police are investigating the suspected murder of a 59-year-old local man whose decomposed body was found at the bottom of a borehole at his farm in Maphane cattlepost on Saturday.
To complicate the mystery, the dead man’s Land Cruiser was discovered stuck in Thamakalane River the same day.
Confirming the sad development, Maun Station Commander, Joseph Lepodise revealed it is uncertain exactly when the victim, who resided in Boronyane ward, died.
It seems he was last seen alive earlier in the week, when he left his mobile phone charging at a neighbour’s house.
“According to the report, the man left it there. But when days passed by without coming to collect the phone, the neighbour thought he must have forgotten it when he arrived back in Maun and so went to his house to return it,” narrated Lepodise, adding the family indicated he was still at the cattlepost.
Worried, the family hurried to the cattlepost, located on the outskirts of Maun, to check on him.
“In their search they also went to the borehole where he usually draws water for his livestock but were met with a foul smell. On closer inspection they noticed that the stench was coming from the water and they reported the matter to the police,” continued Lepodise.
While police officers were at the scene, a call came in that the man’s car had been found abandoned in Thamalakane River.
As it was already late, Lepodise said the police secured the two scenes and waited for assistance of Botswana Defence Force (BDF) to retrieve the body and pull the vehicle out of the river early the next morning, Sunday 17 August.
“Since the body was decomposed, a pathologist was called to the scene for post-mortem. In his findings, he noted that the man sustained a blunt trauma to his head and chest. This is therefore a suspected case of murder and investigations are still at a very early stage,” explained Lepodise, who appealed to anyone with possible information to contactthe police immediately.
