/ 13 February 2006

No leads after body found in car boot

Police have made no breakthroughs yet in the murder of a Pretoria woman found in the boot of her boyfriend’s car over the weekend.

Marlene Mauer (20), of Erasmia, east of Pretoria, appeared to have been killed by several blows to her head with a blunt object, said Inspector Lucas Sithole.

”She only had those injuries to the face and head. Her body was found whole.”

Mauer was found dead in the boot of her boyfriend’s black Ford Fiesta at 1.30pm on Saturday. The car was parked outside a restaurant in the city centre.

The circumstances surrounding her death are unknown, said Sithole. A post-mortem will be conducted.

Her family reported her missing on Friday night when she failed to return her house after leaving for a meeting in Hatfield at 8am that morning.

”The woman’s home was broken into at the weekend while she was missing, but so far that is being treated as a separate case,” Sithole said. — Sapa