Police in the Eastern Cape are questioning the son of a woman who was found dead in her burning apartment in Fernkloof on Tuesday.
- Police in the Eastern Cape are questioning the son of a woman who was found dead in her burning apartment on Tuesday.
- Her car was abandoned in bushland in Walmer, the same area where her son was found on Wednesday.
- Colonel Priscilla Naidu told News24 that he is not yet a suspect.
Eastern Cape police were on Wednesday questioning the son of a 65-year-old woman who was found dead in her burning apartment in Fernkloof, Gkeberha.
Spokeswoman Col. Priscilla Naidoo said police responded to the incident on Park Drive, where her partially burned body was found on Tuesday.
Police initially opened an investigation, but forensic evidence collected at the scene and interviews with neighbors suggested the fire may not have been an accident, she said.
The case was changed to murder.
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“We don’t have the post-mortem report yet. Once she comes back, maybe she will confirm that there was foul play,” said Naidu.
She added that inquiries from neighbors revealed that the woman’s son, who was not there when the police arrived, lived with her in the apartment.
Naidu said police found it unusual that the woman’s car was missing and her son was not in the apartment.
Police later found the woman’s car, a white Ford Fiesta, which had been dumped in Walmer.
“We found the car on Victoria Drive, in a quiet area surrounded by bushland. The son was found in the central business center of Walmer,” said Naidu.
She said he is not yet a suspect in his mother’s death as police are still investigating.
The woman’s identity will not be released pending confirmation by police.
The cause of the fire was not yet known.
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