PI probes body in water
WHILE police divers continue to search the Vaal River in and around Barkly West for the body of 72-yearold Peet Theron, who was allegedly killed by his son-in-law Douglas Simpson, mystery still surrounds the final days before Simpson apparently killed himself.
His body was pulled out of the river at Barkly West two weeks after he disappeared from his home in Witbank.
According to a private detective hired by Theron’s family, Leon Rossouw, Douglas’ belongings, including his clothes, cellphone, ID book and bank cards, as well as the gun he allegedly stole from Theron’s house, were never found when his body was fished out of the river last week.
“Something is not right here …if he did in fact commit suicide, where is the firearm and the safe he allegedly stole from Theron’s house? Where are his belongings, because they were not found at the scene or in his abandoned vehicle? At this point I am investigating every possible lead, including murder, because there is a possibility that he was killed elsewhere and his body and vehicle dumped at the river,” Rossouw said.
He pointed out that he also suspected that Douglas, who is be- lieved to have either lived in his vehicle at the caravan park or with someone in the town of Barkly West, could have picked up a hitchhiker on his way from Witbank.
“When I was hired to investigate this case on Monday last week, I discovered that Douglas was already in Barkly West because of his cellphone activity. He was either living with someone in the town or perhaps sharing his vehicle with someone he picked up on his way to Barkly West. There is a possibility that this person could have robbed him and dumped his body in the river. These are all leads I am fol- lowing,” Rossouw said.
He said he does not believe that Theron (Douglas Simpson’s fatherin-law) had been abducted by Nigerian drug dealers.
“There’s no evidence that Douglas was a drug dealer. He may have consumed drugs but there is nothing that links him to the drug underworld. So, at this point, I do not think drugs are involved in Theron’s disappearance,” Rossouw said.
He stated that he believed that finding Douglas’ belongings could help him to track down Theron.
“If Douglas did in fact travel with Theron at some point after he (Theron) disappeared before Christmas, I will be able to find out more by going through Douglas’ belongings,” Rossouw said.
He added that a post-mortem on Simpson’s body would also shed light on how he died because there were no visible wounds on his body when it was pulled out of the river.
The police in Kimberley said yesterday that the search for Theron would continue until they were satisfied that his body was not in the river.
“Both the diving team and the dog unit will continue searching the river until they are absolutely sure that Theron’s body is not there. The police are also searching for clues that may shed more light on this case,” police spokesman, Warrant Officer Bashoabile Kale, said.
He pointed out that they were expecting Simpson’s family to arrive in the city tomorrow to identify his body after which the post-mortem would be performed.
Police in Mpumalanga said yesterday they were not investigating any links between Nigerian drug lords and Theron’s disappearance.
“At this point we are investigating a case of a missing person. We will not comment on the issue of Nigerian drug dealers because that is just an allegation at this point,” police spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Leonard Hlathi, said.