Searchers find Cradock teacher's body

THE body of a murdered Cradock teacher who was dumped into the Fish River almost three weeks ago has been found.

Yesterday police said the body of preparatory school art teacher Theresa Buys, 43, was found partly submerged in the water between the reeds on the river bank on Friday afternoon.

The discovery was made after an intensive search by various police units – including divers, K9 search and rescue and the Mounted Unit – as far as 50km along the Fish River to the Elandsdrift Dam. The body was recovered days after murder accused Marius Isaacs, 25, was denied bail by a Cradock court.

A police spokeswoman, Captain Stephanie Smith, who was also a friend of Buys, said the body had been found about a kilometre from where Isaacs allegedly claimed to have dumped her.

"It has been a gruelling three weeks. We have been searching non-stop along the river banks and in the water since the incident," Smith said.

"The Water Affairs Department also assisted us on Friday by dropping the water levels."

Smith said additional manpower had been brought in to assist with the search on Friday.

"Buys was identified by the clothes and items she was wearing. In the postmortem, a DNA sample will be taken and sent to the laboratory for testing. This is procedure and will allow detectives to confirm without a doubt that it is her," Smith said.

"We are hoping the recovery of her body will at least be able to bring closure to her family. "

Police arrested Isaacs for the murder after they found her stolen vehicle abandoned on the outskirts of an informal settlement near Cradock. Buys, originally from Jeffreys Bay, moved to Cradock last year.

Isaacs, a labourer on the farm on which Buys rented a house, is alleged to have murdered her before stealing her vehicle and throwing her body from the Tams low-level bridge.

Isaacs appeared in court last Monday, the same day the school held a memorial service for Buys. The case was postponed to September 17

At the memorial service at the school, former pupils decorated the hall with drawings as a tribute to the many hearts she had touched in the community.

Buys's mother, Julianna Marais, estranged husband Johan, and the couple's daughter, Katja, 16, attended the service. - Gareth Wilson