Nicky van Heerden was over the moon about a new man she had recently met — so much so that she introduced him to family members for the first time on Saturday. But about 24 hours later, the blonde-haired woman was found dead in Plettenberg Bay, her badly injured body lying sprawled on a sand dune next to a vehicle. The vehicle, believed to be a bakkie, belonged to the man the 54-year-old ex-detective had been seeing — the very same man who is now behind bars, accused ofmurdering her.
And now Van Heerden’s elderly father, 87, has the daunting task of laying his daughter to rest and facing the man police said killed her when he takes to the dock. Police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg said Van Heerden’s body was found in the Rivertides area near the Keurbooms River at about 9.30pm on Sunday. “Police members responded to a complaint of a woman who was screaming,” Twigg said.
“Upon arrival at the scene, they found the victim next to a vehicle with injuries to her body. “The victim wasdeclared deadat the scene by medical personnel.” Twigg said the circumstances surrounding the horrifying incident were still under investigation, though a 53-year-old man had been arrested. “[He] will appear in the Plettenberg Bay Magistrates’ Court once he has been charged,” he said.
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The suspect, whose name was known toIOL, cannot be named until he has appeared in court. The man recently moved to Plettenberg Bay from Wilderness on the Garden Route.
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