Returning To The Crime Scene

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This is the third part of the impact statement that my mom read in court.

Returning to the Crime Scene

We slept fitfully for the few hours before reporting to Humewood Police station at 9 a.m. Their statements were taken and not fully comprehending what was required of us next, we all returned to the scene of the previous nights attack to identify the crime scene. The first stop was at a scenic patch, relatively close to the Noordhoek Ski Club where they had picnicked. We discovered their picnic blanket and some food items still left behind from when the hijackers ordered them to empty the boot of the car before ordering them to get into the boot. The Police took photographs. We then left the picnic spot and turned right back onto Marine Drive and drove along a very bumpy dirt road to the isolated spot where the hijackers took our daughter and her boyfriend.

We walked alongside them as they confirmed where they had been taken and where the car had been parked the previous evening. We then walked up a small dune and half buried in the sand we found our daughter’s ring, one of her little size 3 socks and some other personal items that had been in her handbag. We were standing at the place where she had endured the horrors of the previous evening. This was excruciatingly difficult for Cayly and us.

Whilst there, some fisherman approached us to ask whether the handbag they had found lying in the bush belonged to our daughter. It was hers. The boyfriends hoodie top was also found, flung on top of a tall bush.

All of these were stark reminders of the horrendous events that had transpired only hours earlier, and from which there was now no denial.

The next post is, ‘The Reactions’.