S.Africa: Body of 5-year-old-White Girl found

[It looks like she might have been sexually assaulted too. Jan]

Durban - The body of Shanae Muir, five, was found not far from her Warner Beach home on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast on Wednesday, 19 days after her disappearance.

Inspector Rani John said: "Members of the canine rescue unit were doing a follow-up search in a bushy area in Warner Beach when they caught a whiff of something and they followed their dog, which led them to Shanae."

She said the little girl was lying on her back, her body was decomposed and she was topless.

John said a pathologist was immediately sent to determine the identity of the child who was found just a kilometre away from the Warner Beach offramp.

"At this stage, the cause of death is unknown and further tests will be done," said John.

While the pathologist conducted tests where the body was found, police called Shanae's parents and advised them not to go there.

Fourth time she'd gone missing

Police, family friends and members of the public have been searching for the child for the past few weeks.

John said calls from people further down the South Coast who said they might have spotted her there meant police had moved away from the area where she was found.

"Despite follow-up searches in the Warner Beach area they found her only today, perhaps because they used a different search route in the area," said John.

She said it was the fourth time Shanae had disappeared from her home.

The last time was on June 24 and on that occasion she was found naked, on a beach 4km away from her home.

The child protection unit took her for a medical examination, but she had not been harmed in any way.

Police said it appeared as if she had just walked away from home.

Source: News24.Com

URL: http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/New...