Cape Town - Police have recovered the bodies of two missing Fish Hoek women, who were seen last Friday getting into an e-hailing taxi with their family dog.
The body of Susanna Rademeyer-Jacobs, 59, was found on the rocks at the bottom of Chapman’s Peak on Wednesday morning. Two days earlier, the body of her daughter, Melissa Jacobs, 26, was found washed up on Noordhoek Beach.
Noordhoek Beach racehorse trainer Mike Stewart said a groomsman was alerted to Jacobs’s body lying on the beach by a dog walker, prompting him to alert the authorities.
Police spokesperson Frederick van Wyk said Fish Hoek police registered an inquest case for investigation, following the discovery of Jacobs’s body at Noordhoek Beach.
“The victim was reported as missing on Monday, November 1 by her neighbour. At the time, her mother was still missing. A post-mortem is still to be conducted to determine the cause of death. The investigation is still ongoing.”
A close family friend, Danielle Daniels, who reported mother and daughter missing after they failed to return to their Seaside Cottage home in Fish Hoek, said she still struggled to come to terms with their deaths.
“Soekie (Rademeyer-Jacobs) was like a mother to me. She was kind, loving, the most beautiful person I knew. They both were. This is so terrible. I’m still trying to process their deaths. What people are saying is not right. I’d like for people to be kind to the family right now and respect them by not saying things that are not true.”
Daniels, and another Seaside Cottage resident, assisted police with the search. They helped the police narrow down the moment the two women left their home, using CCTV footage.
A resident, who did not want to be named, worked with Daniels to sift through footage and said she had not hesitated to assist in the search when Daniels approached her.
“It’s a tragic story and I can’t imagine what the family must be going through. Danielle was completely devastated when they told her they had found the daughter, and even more so when they informed us that they found the mother at the bottom of Chapman’s Peak.”
On Wednesday morning, police, supported by Table Mountain National Park, the National Sea Rescue Institute and the Western Cape Government Health, EMS and Wilderness Search and Rescue, and the SA Red Cross Air Mercy Service, recovered Rademeyer-Jacobs’s body at the bottom of Chapman’s Peak.
Speaking to the Cape Argus, police detective Jeremy Marten said police were actively investigating the women’s cases to figure out how they died, but could only confirm the causes of death once they perform post-mortems.
Marten joined the rescue service officials who went down to retrieve Rademeyer-Jacobs’s body and was able to collect her dog, said to have been found next to her body. After medical examinations, the dog was handed into the care of the Jacobs family.
The Cape Argus contacted the Jacobs family for comment and was able to speak to Rademeyer-Jacobs’s other daughter, Natasha Jacobs, who said the family was distraught and not yet ready to speak.
Fish Hoek councillor Felicity Purchase said she was deeply saddened by the death of the Jacobs women and would be contacting the family to offer them her support.