A city family has been left with more questions than answers after the body of a 25-year-old woman was found in the veld in Colville last week.
Bernadine Peters’ body was found in the veld behind the house that she shared with her parents, sisters and five-year-old son.
The family last saw Peters on Tuesday, May 28. Her body was found the next day.
“We all know that she enjoyed smoking pills and when her smoking buddy called her on Tuesday night we never thought anything about it. She left with him and we never saw her alive again,” one of Peters’ sisters, Vanessa Snyders, said.
Snyders added that they are still waiting for the outcome of the post-mortem.
“When we left the mortuary on Thursday, we were told that the pathologist was on his way. But, we still haven’t heard anything - although it is suspected that she may have overdosed.”
Snyders added that all that the close-knit family wanted was for someone to talk to them, to give them some answers.
“Ever since she disappeared, this friend of hers doesn’t want to communicate with us. It is also suspected the drugs that were found in her system was an unknown substance. We knew about the pills, but not this drug.”
Snyders went on to say that after her sister had smoked she would always return home.
“This is the first time that she didn’t come home. The place where they found her body also looks as if she crawled into the veld, or was dragged. This is not typical of something she would do. We know she would have found a way to get home.”
Another of Peters’ sisters, Vanolene Kock, said the family was finding it extremely difficult to deal with the loss.
“My father sat with her when they found her body. He went to the mortuary when they moved her body there. Today he had to go to the doctor as the stress was getting to him. Now the doctor is even thinking about booking him into Kimberley Hospital as it is all getting too much for him. Nobody wants to tell us anything, but we will leave it in God’s hands. He knows the answers.”
Peters is expected to be buried on Saturday.
Police spokesperson Captain Tessa Jansen said yesterday that they were still awaiting the outcome of the post-mortem.
“No arrests have been made and the investigation continues,” Jansen added.