Officials in Johannesburg, South Africa, fear that a potential serial killer could be behind the murder of multiple women found killed in the same municipality.
The body of an unidentified woman was found Thursday morning near a building site in the Ekurhuleni municipality of East Rand, believed to be approximately 30 years old. It was the ninth female corpse found in the area in two months.
“We cannot continue picking up bodies,” lamented deputy chief of police Tebello Mosikili following the latest discovery of a victim in Dawn Park.
All the bodies have been found with signs of abuse, ranging from bruises to slashed throats, and in various states of undress. The first was found on July 17, with her hands bound by cable ties. The victims have all been in their 20s or 30s.
Authorities are offering a $25,000 reward for information related to the murders, and the center-right political party Democratic Alliance has separately offered a similar amount.
Investigators have thus far stopped short of officially declaring the case the work of a serial killer but have pointed to the bizarrely similar circumstances of each death.
“Police are comparing the evidence, timelines, locations, victim profiles and circumstances of each case before reaching conclusions,” Gauteng provincial commissioner Fred Kekana said earlier this week.
Kekana continued: “While investigations are still under way and the South African Police Service has not, at this stage, confirmed that the deaths are linked to a serial killer, the similarities are sufficiently concerning for the police to issue a public warning and intensify investigations.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is characterizing the case as a national priority.
SOUTH AFRICA SLAMS US VISA RESTRICTIONS OVER ALLEGED RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, by some estimates approximately six times the global average. Femicide is particularly rampant.
The country recorded a jaw-dropping 5,427 homicides between April and July of this year, amounting to approximately 45 murders every day.