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Through a series of unfortunate events, a murdered former police officer’s skeletal remains went missing from a government mortuary in Standerton on Friday, 19 March 2021, only to appear in Newcastle on 23 March 2021.
According to police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi, the bones, which are subject to police investigations into the murder of former police captain, Johannes Engelbrecht, were initially thought to be stolen.
However, Brigadier Hlathi explains the deceased’s bones were found on Tuesday afternoon, 23 March 2021, in Newcastle KwaZulu-Natal. Adding to the bizarre situation, the remains had not been stolen but instead mistakenly removed by health officials. “Police were informed by their counterparts from the Department of Health, that the bones were mistakenly collected together with two corpses scheduled to be taken to Newcastle. The officials then alerted their colleagues in Standerton as soon as they realised that an error had occurred. As a result, it has now been established that the bones were never stolen,” he states.
Engelbrecht was reported missing in October 2020, and a search was launched to find him. However, the search proved fruitless until 12 March 2021, when a suspect handed himself into the Harrismith Police Station. He then showed law enforcement where he had buried the remains of the deceased. Engelbrecht was then exhumed and taken to a state mortuary, pending further investigations. It was during this process that the unusual set of events unfolded. With his bones now recovered, the investigation into the murder of Engelbrecht continues.
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