2007-07-18Staff Report 2 "... But to Wait for Missing Body Parts By Anna Shilongo and Surihe Gaomas KALKRAND The //GaroÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ''šÃ‚«s family will wait for the recovery of the rest of the body of Sanna Helena //GaroÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ''šÃ‚«s before they hold a funeral for her, although they have already started digging her grave. New Era yesterday visited the family of the late //GaroÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ''šÃ‚«s in Kalkrand, who felt they would rather wait for the missing body parts of their daughter to be found before they bury her. So far the police have discovered the torso, head, thighs, legs and feet, but the search for her arms continues. The //GaroÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ''šÃ‚«s family have decided to stick to the African tradition that says a person has to be buried whole for them to rest in peace, as well as for the family to come to terms with the death. However, New Era discovered that the family have already started digging //GaroÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ''šÃ‚«s' grave since Monday. Her stepfather, 65-year-old Stephanus Engelbrecht, explained the reason for this was because the ground is hard and full of stones and it normally takes about two weeks to dig a grave. Her mother, 66-year-old Lena Engelbrecht said she has spiritually submitted her loss to the power of God. ""The way I feel, nobody can heal my pain except God. Only He knows what I am going through. I am leaving everything in His hands."" When the police called her to identify the body parts on Friday, Engelbrecht said she recognised her daughter by her thick eyebrows, hairy legs, forehead, and by an old bullet scar in her right thigh, as well as by her feet. However the most significant feature of her body were the blunt-shaped toes which she says helped her to identify her daughter. ""Look at my toes,"" she said. ""They are short like hers."" All her daughter's 10 toes were intact, she said. The police had initially thought that the three middle toes of each foot were missing. Engelbrecht explained that the bullet wound came when she was shot by an unknown suspect in 2006, but until this day it remains unknown who the suspect was and why she was shot. Engelbrecht was also shocked to hear that her daughter was linked to prostitution, saying all that she knew was that her daughter would travel from Kalkrand to Windhoek hoping to get employment to support the family. ""If she was a prostitute, I am not aware of it,"" she said. This is not the first time the //GaroÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ''šÃ‚«s family has experienced such tragedy. Six of her in-laws were brutally murdered at the Kareeboomkolk Farm near Mariental a few years ago. As for the families of the other three missing women, Engelbrecht feels it is necessary for her family to join forces in their search. ""The Jantze family is also looking for their daughter. If the two families can sit together then we can help the police in their investigations,"" she said. The //GaroÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ''šÃ‚«s family wants the killer/s to face the full wrath of the law and explain why he/she had to kill their daughter in such a brutal way. ""The killer must explain why he did this! We are paining as a family. ""He needs to be stopped before he causes another family similar pain,"" said Pastor Sanna //GaroÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ''šÃ‚«s, namesake and aunt to the late //GaroÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ''šÃ‚«s. ""My mouth is dry with shock. I have never heard of such a murder in my life and I refused to see my child's body parts in the mortuary because I want to remember her as I knew her before."" The deceased's torso was the first body part to be discovered at a rest spot in a rubbish bin some 30 km from Okahandja on the B1 road, followed by the two thighs that were also discovered at a rest spot along the road by workers of Star Pricast Company, some 30 km before Rehoboth, while the head, lower legs and feet were discovered at farm Voigtland about 35 km from Windhoek." 2007-07-18Staff Report 2
