‘B1 butcher’ case throws spotlight on missing women

WHILE the Police are still trying to establish the identity of the woman or women whose body parts have been discovered next to the B1 road, the families of women reported missing fear for the lives of their loved ones.

By yesterday afternoon, around eight families from across the country had visited the Police mortuary in Windhoek since last Monday to try and identify the dismembered remains, Chief Inspector Joost Mbandeka, the officer in charge of the mortuary, told The Namibian. All of these families had left the mortuary convinced that the body parts did not belong to the women they had reported as missing, Mbandeka said.By yesterday afternoon, a number of missing people had been reunited with their families.One of the women, 34-year-old Anna (Annetjie) Koopman, had been missing since Saturday, June 9, Police say.Koopman went missing from her home in Windhoek North’s Johan Albrecht Street.She had apparently gone into town on the day of her disappearance and never returned.A relative reported yesterday that she had returned home on Friday night.Another woman, reported missing by the Police at Rehoboth on May 14, has since returned.The 26-year-old Yolane Celeste Beukes had been on her way to visit an aunt in Omaruru, when she disappeared from the Rhino Park taxi rank in Windhoek.She never arrived at her destination, her family said.However, asked about her whereabouts yesterday, a family member said that she too had returned about a week ago.Police last week said that the woman whose torso had been found at a lay-by about 42 km north of Windhoek is estimated to have weighed around 52 kilogrammes and must have been about 1,7 metres tall.The female torso, as well as the two thighs that were found at another lay-by some 25 km north of Rehoboth, appeared to have been chilled in a fridge or freezer before being dumped.All of these families had left the mortuary convinced that the body parts did not belong to the women they had reported as missing, Mbandeka said.By yesterday afternoon, a number of missing people had been reunited with their families.One of the women, 34-year-old Anna (Annetjie) Koopman, had been missing since Saturday, June 9, Police say.Koopman went missing from her home in Windhoek North’s Johan Albrecht Street.She had apparently gone into town on the day of her disappearance and never returned.A relative reported yesterday that she had returned home on Friday night.Another woman, reported missing by the Police at Rehoboth on May 14, has since returned.The 26-year-old Yolane Celeste Beukes had been on her way to visit an aunt in Omaruru, when she disappeared from the Rhino Park taxi rank in Windhoek. She never arrived at her destination, her family said.However, asked about her whereabouts yesterday, a family member said that she too had returned about a week ago.Police last week said that the woman whose torso had been found at a lay-by about 42 km north of Windhoek is estimated to have weighed around 52 kilogrammes and must have been about 1,7 metres tall.The female torso, as well as the two thighs that were found at another lay-by some 25 km north of Rehoboth, appeared to have been chilled in a fridge or freezer before being dumped.