Missing mom may be kidnapped

2010-07-31 15:43

Pretoria - Pretoria police were on Saturday still searching for the mother of two girls who were found dead in their house in Theresa Park.

"She has not been found, we are still searching," Constable William Mahlaole said.

Asked if reports that the woman had been kidnapped were true, Mahlaole said anything was possible, she may have been kidnapped as her house was found in disarray.

The bodies of a 4-year-old girl and her 8-month-old sister were found by a friend of their mother when she visited their home on Friday. The children's mother and her car were nowhere to be found.

Beeld newspaper reported on Saturday the woman was the wife of former minister of provincial and local government Sydney Mufamadi's cousin.

Her husband died in a car crash in February.

Mahlaole said it looked as if the 4-year-old girl had been drowned because there was water in a bath nearby.

The baby was believed to have been smothered with a hat that was still lying on her face when police entered the house.

No visible bruises or wounds were present on either of the children.

Mahlaole said the friend went to the house to deliver something and saw that the door of the house was open.

She called out for the mother but there was no reply so she phoned the local security company.

The security company arrived and together they inspected the house, finding that the house was in disarray and had a rancid smell.

The mother of the children last spoke to family members on Thursday.

There were no signs of forced entry.

Police were investigating the cause of the children's death.

- SAPA