A 24-year-old man was arrested and will face a charge of murder after a human skeleton was discovered in the bushes at Nkanini Trust near Masoyi outside White River on Sunday morning.

Preliminary investigation by police revealed that the skeleton could be that of a 15-year-old girl who vanished in December last year. She was reported missing in January.

Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brig Selvy Mohlala said on Tuesday her family believes it is her body as they identified the dress that was found at the scene.

Mohlala said children from an initiation school were in the bushes looking for wooden sticks on Sunday when they found the skeleton.

Police were alerted and confirmed the skeleton as that of a human being. The members also found some clothes believed to be of the victim.

 “While investigating the case, a woman stormed into the police station at Masoyi on Monday claiming that some members of the community wanted to kill her [and accused her] of shielding the suspect.”

Mohlala said the police team received crucial information in their probe from a member of the community policing forum regarding the whereabouts of the suspect. He was arrested in Malelane, about an hour away from Masoyi, on Monday.

The suspect has been charged with murder as well as defeating the ends of justice.

He is due to appear in the Masoyi periodical court on Wednesday. 

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