Timeline of How SAPS Constables Went Missing and Were Found Dead in Hennops River

• The three South African Police Service constables who were allegedly kidnapped and hijacked on 23 April 2025 were found dead
• The police recovered an additional two bodies from the Hennops River in Centurion on 29 April 2025
• SAPS revealed that car parts were found, but they are still looking for the VW Polo that the constables were travelling in

More details have emerged about the three South African Police Service constables who were found dead. The constables were allegedly kidnapped and hijacked on 23 April and discovered dead on 29 April. Police also found an additional two bodies from the Hennops River in the Free State.

What happened to the police officers?

The three officers, Cebekhulu Linda, Keamogetswe Buys, and Boipelo Senoge, went missing while travelling in a white VW Polo from Bloemfontein to Limpopo, where they had been deployed. Police say both their phones and the vehicle’s tracking device had been switched off, raising immediate concerns.

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Their disappearance led to the launch of a full-scale search and a 24-hour operations centre, with help from officers in both the Free State and Gauteng. Police recovered the bodies of three women and two men at different spots along the river.

Timeline of the events

It is alleged that Constable Cebekhulu Linda picked up Constable Boipelo Senoge at around 19:00 from her home in Morakiele Street in Mangaung using his private vehicle. Senoge was reportedly in a relationship with Linda and was not part of the deployment.

According to EWN, just before 22:00, Linda picked up his colleague Keamogetswe Buys from her home in Turflaagte 2, Bloemfontein, this time using the white VW Polo state-owned vehicle.

The three officers stopped briefly at Engen Heidedal in Bloemfontein at around 22:10. Three hours later, they crossed the Barrage Bridge heading towards Johannesburg on the N1.

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CCTV footage captured the trio stopping at Engen Grasmere, Lenasia, around 22:35. Buys can be seen stepping out of the vehicle and putting on a hoodie.

Just before 2:00, they were tracked passing the Kingfisher and Owl e-toll gantries on the N1 heading towards Johannesburg.

Minutes later, the vehicle’s tracker signal was last detected near the Shell Ultra City in Midrand. It was in this area that all three cellphone signals, along with the vehicle tracker, were lost. They are believed to have crashed into the Hennops River, roughly 10km from the Shell Ultra City on the N1.

Bodies found

The bodies of two males were found underwater in the Hennops River on Monday, 28 April. Later, another body of a male was found wearing red pants similar to Linda's. On Monday evening, the body of a female was found with an Apple watch on her wrist, similar to Senoge's.

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On Tuesday morning, police responded to what they believed was the crash site along the N1 highway, just before the Hennops River bridge. Vehicle parts from a VW Polo were found at the scene, leading investigators to suspect that the car veered off the road and plunged into the river.

In the afternoon, the body of Keamogetswe Buys was recovered under a bridge on Blackwood Street in Centurion. The families of the three officers identified the bodies on Tuesday afternoon.

What you need to know about the officers

• The three South African Police Service constables who were allegedly kidnapped and hijacked on 23 April 2025 have been found dead.
• The South African Police Service is still on the hunt for the VW Polo that the constables who were found dead travelled in.
• On 29 April 2025, the South African Police Service recovered five bodies from the Hennops River in Tshwane.
• The South African Police Service revealed that the vehicle parts that belonged to the car the deceased constables were driving in have been found.

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KZN police officer shot and killed

A member of the South African Police Service tragically lost his life after being shot multiple times in Inanda, KwaZulu-Natal. The off-duty officer was on his way to a shop when armed suspects approached him.

They opened fire, shooting him multiple times before fleeing the scene with his firearm. The officer bled to death and was later declared deceased.

Source: Briefly News