The search for Hillary Gardee ended three days later, when her lifeless body was discovered.
UPDATE: – Tuesday, 3 May 2022 (15:39)
Per News24, Mpumalanga police have opened a murder case in the death of Hillary Gardee. In a statement, police revealed a group of women stumbled upon Gardee’s body on Tuesday morning and immediately alerted authorities. No further details have emerged on the cause of Gardee’s death but police confirmed that Godrich Gardee’s daughter sustained head injuries. More updates to come.
What happened to Hillary Gardee?
In a statement, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) confirmed the woman’s dead body was found abandoned at an area outside Nelspruit, Mpumalanga.
At this time, the circumstances around Gardee’s death are unknown.
“We mourn with the Gardee family, and will provide a helping hand to ensure that her memory is preserved and she goes to her final resting place with dignity. The family at this time is still reeling from the terrible news of the loss of their child, and as such is not in a position to speak to the media or the public,” EFF spokesperson Sinawo Thambo noted.
The daughter of South African politician and former EFF secretary general Godrich Gardee was last seen alive on Friday 29 April 2022 at approximately 17:50.
Dressed in a black top and trousers, Gardee and her three-year-old toddler were spotted shopping at a Spar retailer in Nelspruit. Eyewitnesses recall seeing Gardee walk out of the shopping plaza carrying groceries and a laptop bag.
Hours later, at approximately 20:30, Gardee’s child was discovered a street away from her home, the uncle Moses Mbatha informed reporters.
“The child was dropped in an opposite street, I think two kilometres from the house. For now there is no lead hence we have issued … a picture with some reward hoping that maybe a good Samaritan can show up,” he said at the time.
Unfortunately, the family would reunite with Gardee under the worst circumstances imaginable.
No leads have surfaced on what may have happened to Godrich’s daughter, but her family believes she may have met her tragic end in a cab ride back home from the shopping plaza.
“We suspect they took a cab from town with the child and maybe in the car things went bad,” Mbatha said.
This is a developing story.
