Investigation stalled as family seeks justice for grave robbery

The gold chain was stolen from the grave of Lilian Jacobs. Nearly two months after a 72-year-old woman’s grave was opened by robbers who broke her coffin and stole her imitation gold chain, her family disputes police claims that they are hot on the heels of those responsible. In December,the Cape Argustold of the shocking story of Lillian Jacobs, who is buried at Maitland Cemetery, and how robbers dug open her grave in order to gain access to her coffin where she lay wearing an imitation gold chain.

Claims were that the robber also searched her mouth for her gold teeth. This week, police spokesperson Constable Ndakhe Gwala said police were closing the net on the suspects. “Kindly be advised that investigations are in the final stages; arrests are imminent,” she said.

Jacobs’ husband, Jeffrey Arendse, 66, who had made the grim discovery, said police did not follow protocol when searching for the suspect, who is known to the family because he is also a resident. “The detective said they were at the accused’s house after 2am last week, but I know how they were supposed to work; if they must fetch a criminal, they must usually go at the back of the property and then they will knock on the front door and go inside and search every room, under the beds or in the cupboards,” he explained. “They know there is a wendy house in the yard, but they don’t go into it.

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Yet, the suspect and his brothers were in it, so they did not do their jobs properly. He needs to be caught because of what he did to the grave and opening her mouth inside the coffin; that is barbaric, a person without a heart.” Jacobs died in October, and her family had dressed in white and gold. Jacobs was dressed in a white top and pants, and because she had a love for gold, her family decided it would be fitting to add an imitation gold necklace, earrings, and a flower in her hand.

Arendse found the grave in disarray, damaged and dug up, with the wooden frame and cross moved and strewn around, and the coffin ripped open. Days after the incident, the family managed to trace one of the robbers, who are known drug addicts in the community, and who spilled the beans and was still covered in sand. The chain was later found dumped inside a backyard of a neighbour. “I have been going to the grave every day since she died,” Arendse explained.

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