PE woman found lying on bed with throat slit

A Port Elizabeth woman was found lying dead on her bed, with her throat slit, in what police suspect to be a botched robbery.

Ntombizandile Ngumbe, 42, was found lying on her bed with a bloodied cloth lying next to her.

While details remain sketchy, police confirmed that several items in the Delport Street house in Schauderville had been stolen.

Family at the house declined to comment saying that other out of town relatives were expected to arrive at the house on Thursday afternoon.

The gruesome discovery came after Ntombizandile's cousin, Nosiphiwo Ngumbe, arrived home shortly before 5pm on Wednesday.

Police spokesman Warrant Officer Alwin Labans said Ntombizandile was last seen alive at about 12:50pm when Nosiphiwo left the house to go to the hospital.

“She left the house and locked the front perimeter gate padlock behind her. Some of the windows were left open. The front door was closed,” he said.

“At about 4:10pm her cousin [Nosiphiwo] returned home and could not get into the house as the gate was still locked. She did not have a key for the padlock.”

“Attempts to call her [Ntombizandile] to open the house failed. After a while, Nosiphiwo thought that she [Ntombizandile] had maybe gone to the nearby crèche to fetch her child,” Labans said.

When Nosiphiwo arrived at the crèche, the child was still there and Ntombizandile nowhere to be seen.

“The two then went back to the house at about 5pm and after not being able to gain entry, she went to the neighbour and asked if they could cut the lock of the gate,” he said.

One of the men working on the neighbouring property, Santon Peters, 32, said Nosiphiwo had come to them for assistance.

“I fetched the angle grinder and went to the front gate where I cut the lock off. I then left and do not know what else happened,” he said.

Labans said that after Nosiphiwo got into the house, she found Ntombizandile lying on the bed with both the television and cellphone missing.

A blanket with blood stains on it was also lying on the floor next to the bed.

“At this stage we can confirm that items are missing. No murder weapon was found on the scene,” Labans said.

He said there were no visible signs of forced entry to the house were found.

“We are looking into how the suspect got into the house and what transpired,” he added.

Forensic experts stayed on the scene until about 10:30pm combing the area and house for clues.

A case of murder and robbery is being investigated.