PORT ELIZABETH - WOMAN'S HALF NAKED BODY FOUND DUMPED AT PINE LODGE RESORT

CCTV footage shows dead woman carried out of staff quarters

In a bizarre mystery murder, the semi-naked body of a woman was found dumped in bushes at the Pine Lodge Resort off Marine Drive yesterday morning.

The woman, whose identity is unknown and who had no wallet or identification on her, was found by resort staff dumped next to a fence close to the Cape Recife Nature Reserve entrance.

A key clue is CCTV footage which shows a man in blue overalls carrying the woman’s body out of the Pine Lodge staff quarters at 4.10am.

By late yesterday evening, it had been established that the woman was not a guest at the resort but it remained unclear what she was doing there.

Startled staff members contacted the police.

In the CCTV footage, the man walks through a section of the reserve which forms part of the resort premises, before dumping the body under a tree near the tennis court area.

The woman’s pants had been removed and it is suspected she had been raped.

While officials confirmed that no blood had been found inside the staff quarters, used condoms were found in the room.

Although the cause of death is still unknown, detectives suspect the woman was strangled.

Top brass from the Humewood police station also arrived on the scene.

Station commander Brigadier Ronald Koll said he had assigned a team of detectives to investigate the murder.

“There are no visible wounds on the body and we are awaiting the postmortem report to determine the exact cause of death,” Koll said.

“Our preliminary investigation suggests she was murdered in the staff quarters and her body dumped in the bushes where she was later found.”

The nearby area is well known for being frequented by prostitutes and has been the target of several police operations in the past. Pine Lodge Resort manager Dale Tucker said the woman was not a guest at the resort and that staff were extremely upset.

“Everyone at Pine Lodge has been devastated by this senseless tragedy,” Tucker said.

“Our staff have been working tirelessly to assist the police in their investigation by combing through hours of CCTV footage.

“At this stage, we can confirm that the victim was not a guest of the resort and arrived by taxi during the course of the previous evening. A full internal investigation is under way in conjunction with the SAPS, our security company and staff,” Tucker said.

VIA - heraldlive.co.za