THE body of missing Ventersdorp mayor Philip Mashe was found on Thursday afternoon in a sunflower field 2km from the town, according to police spokesperson Captain Louis Jacobs. Mashe disappeared on Saturday after having withdrawn R4000 from his bank account in the company of one Bota Johannes Monatle (35), who was arrested near Lichtenburg on Thursday morning. Monatle appeared in the Ventersdorp Magistrate’s Court late on Thursday afternoon charged with murder. Monatle led police to the body. The cause of Mashe’s death is unknown, but a knife and Mashe’s cellular telephone were also found near his body.