‘We found her naked' – Family of 14-year-old girl distraught after discovering her missing body
After two days of looking for their daughter, their relief is accompanied by grief.
Likhona Fose was found brutally murdered in phase 4, Braamfischerville in Roodepoort.
The 14-year-old was last seen on Saturday around 8pm when she was believed to be headed to a party.
Speaking to Drum, her cousin, Mthobeli Fose, says her leaving home at the time was nothing out of the ordinary.
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'She often goes out with her friends at night. Her friends are all boys, and she's never just disappeared. I was not home for the weekend. I went to visit my sister in Daveyton and only found out on Sunday around 2pm, when I got home, that she's been missing since Saturday.'
Likhona lived with Mthobeli and their grandmother after her mother passed away.
As soon as she could, Mthobeli alerted the community of Likhona missing and even went to her friends to find out if they knew anything about her whereabouts.
'Her friends all denied being with her on Saturday, but they mentioned something about her other friends from phase 4 who are also still at large.'
Their neighbour, Nomsa Mokoena, recounts the events leading up to her body's discovery.
We went to all her friends to look for her. We have a WhatsApp group chat where someone posted about a body of a child dumped in phase 4, Braamfischerville. We went there and confirmed that it was her.'
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Having been the first on the scene, Mthobeli admits that her heart broke to pieces, seeing her cousin lying there naked and possibly raped.
'She loved school and was brilliant at school.'
Reminiscing on the kind of child she was, their neighbour, Nomsa tells Drum how respectful Likhona was.
'She was very respectful. She would never pass you on the road without greeting you.'
The family and community await postmortem results as their extended family from the Eastern Cape makes their way to Gauteng for funeral arrangements.
The Gauteng Department of Education has urgently deployed its psycho-social support unit to her school, Ikusasalethu Secondary School, to provide extensive counselling and trauma support to learners and teachers who may have been affected.
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