Homicide detectives in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) have initiated the tedious process of piecing together the murder of a John Doe whose body was found washed up at the harbour.
Man’s body discovered at Durban harbour
Durban police were called out to the northern breakwater of the harbour, on Wednesday morning, after eyewitnesses saw what they believed was the body of a man in the area.
Five SA police officials, accompanied by members of the district’s Search and Rescue division, Durban Metro Police and officials from the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), rushed to the scene but soon discovered that the unidentified man was dead.
Very quickly, it was realised that this was not a drowning incident. According to police, the man had “multiple penetrating wounds to his neck.”
The man’s body was successfully recovered from the rocky breakwater and sent to a nearby morgue for forensic analysis. More than anything, homicide investigators leading the case will want to know the identity of the victim.
If a missing persons case was opened recently, Durban police may be able to use DNA testing to match the John Doe but this will take days, if not weeks.
Currently, eThekwini police are in search of a 64-year-old man, Richard Nkwanyana, from Dramat, Marianhill.
Nkwanyana, according to police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nqobile Gwala, was last seen on the morning of Sunday 2 January 2022 at his residence “wearing green trousers, a green shirt and black Dakota shoes.”
Police have yet to ascertain whether John Doe matches Nkwanyana’s profile.
This is a developing story.
