“People used to know her as the lady who used to sell items in front of Shoprite.”
The mother of Jennifer ‘Monica’ Isaacks (27) says her daughter was known by many people who spotted her selling fruits and vegetables outside Shoprite at Katutura and the city centre.
Jennifer’s body was found behind the University of Namibia (Unam) main campus in Windhoek on 31 January.
Khomas police investigations coordinator deputy commissioner Frederick Ndjadila says no arrests have been made in the case yet.
Her mother, Christina Isaacks (51), told The Namibian on Tuesday that the police have released her daughter’s body for burial, but the family has not been able to lay her to rest due to a lack of funds.
Christina says Jennifer has never been formally employed, and she used to sell fruits and vegetables, working as a street vendor for most of her life.
“Both her and I are not working. Whatever money she would make, she would bring home. Even if Monica only got a tomato on a given day, she would come and give it to me,” she says, appealing to good Samaritans to assist with burying her daughter.
“I clean houses for people when they ask because I do not have a permanent job. That money is only enough to buy food and keep us alive until the next opportunity to earn an income,” she says.
Christina says she last saw her daughter on 3 January when she reportedly came to their house at Katutura, asking for taxi money to go and see her boyfriend. She never returned home.
Christina says she inquired about Jennifer’s whereabouts from everyone, including her nieces and friends.
She says three weeks later when she was informed that a body was discovered in the bushes behind Unam, she was hoping it would not be Jennifer.
The police needed her DNA to assist in the identification of the body as it was already decomposed.
Christina says when she went to identify her daughter a few days after her body was discovered, she noticed that Jennifer’s face was disfigured.
“I told myself to be strong,” Christina says, adding that Jennifer’s right leg was missing.
“She was unrecognisable. I don’t know what happened that her leg is not there. But as a mother, I knew that was my Monica lying there,” says Christina.
Meanwhile, Ndjadila says the post-mortem examination results were inconclusive and could not determine whether Jennifer died from a head injury, a stabbing or strangulation.
He says the findings have been sent for intensive forensic investigation to help the police determine whether Jennifer was murdered and how she died.
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