Bush of horror: Mom, toddler found with heads buried in sand
On Tuesday, the bodies of Octavia de Bruin, 24, and her daughter Cleo, two, were found in bushes between Protea Park and the Witsand informal settlements in Atlantis.
Both of their heads were buried in the sand, only their broken bodies sticking out, according to witnesses.
On Wednesday, Octavia’s broken-hearted mother, Lena Skippers, 47, revealed she could only identify her daughter by her clothes.
The incident bears similarities to a previous case, also in Atlantis five years ago, when the decomposing bodies of Marshay Louw, 18, and her one-year-old daughter Tatum were found in the bushes close to Extension 12.
The bodies were discovered on the evening of Good Friday in April 2012, by a man chopping wood – just metres from the family’s home in Sherwood Park.
No arrests have ever been made in that case.
Octavia and Cleo’s bodies were discovered by a man on his way to Witsand.
According to a witness, Octavia’s face looked as if it had been burnt, while little Cleo’s throat was slit.
An inconsolable Lena on Wednesday recalled the last time she saw the two alive.
“I can’t describe this pain. It hurts,” the grandmother cries.
“Octavia left home on Saturday for her friend in Witsand, to have her hair plaited. She usually comes home the Sunday or Monday for the latest and when she didn’t come home I started worrying,” she says.
Lena says she asked Octavia’s biological dad to find out where she was.
“I told him to check if she might be at her brother’s place, but he never got back to me,” she says.
The mother bursts into tears as she describes the moment she learnt of their deaths.
“My husband and I were returning from Cape Town when I received a phone call saying that my daughter and her baby’s bodies were found in the bushes.
“I went to the scene but could not get too close.
“I could identify her by her clothing; she had on a blue tracksuit pants and T-shirt. Cleo was covered, but was lying about two feet away from her,” a sobbing Lena says.
Lena believes her daughter fought with their attacker.
“She was soft and sensitive. She could also be stubborn at times. I think she fought back. I know she fought back to try and save her child.
“Cleo was found in the sand, lying on her stomach.”
She says she last saw Octavia’s boyfriend, who is also Cleo’s father, on Saturday.
“He hasn’t made contact yet. He hasn’t been at the house yet and I find that strange,” Lena adds.
A devastated Ward Councillor Barbara Rass says people are fed up of the violence.
“The onslaught on women and children is totally unacceptable. It is a crisis and needs to be addressed at the highest level.”
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel André Traut says no arrests have been made.
