Missing Savannah Mersin may have been murdered because her killer wanted to get their hands on her inheritance.
|||Missing Savannah Mersin may have been murdered because her killer wanted to get their hands on her inheritance.
Police have still not absolutely confirmed that the grisly, mutilated remains discovered on Muizenberg beach last Friday are that of the missing girl. But speaking to the Daily Voice last night, her distraught family say they are sure it is Savannah.
The eight-year-old’s face was covered with a plastic bag. She had been strangled with her own school shirt. Her zip was down – and police will investigate if the child was raped before she was murdered.
The Daily Voice can also reveal Savannah’s biological mom – Jessica Mersin, 24, has been arrested and charged with her daughter’s kidnapping.
And in a bizarre twist, sources close to the family reveal little Savannah may have been murdered because of money.
“Before Savannah’s father passed away, he left money for her,” the source reveals.
“This is the only reason we can think of for her murder.”
Savannah’s foster mom Felicity Coetzee, 63, Sunday night said she is convinced the body found in Muizenberg beach is the little girl she knew so well.
“I know it’s her, my gut feeling says it’s her,” Felicity says.
“I went to the morgue over the weekend and they wouldn’t allow me to see the body, because of the damage to the face.”
Savannah’s grandma Gadija Titus, 55, says the girl’s face was badly decomposed.
“She was covered with a plastic bag and strangled with her own school shirt and her zip was down so we don’t know if she was raped before she was killed,” Gadija tells the Daily Voice.
“I suspect the plastic bag was for her to stop screaming while she was being choked.
“Blood was drawn from me and there is going to be a DNA test to determine if it is really her.”
Felicity also raised Jessica since she was 11 at the Montague Village house where Savannah lived.
“She only moved out of my house two years ago,” the foster mom says.
“And at the age of four months, she started neglecting her and I had been taking care of her since then.”
The little girl went missing last week Tuesday from Hillwood Primary School where she was doing Grade 3.
Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut tells the Daily Voice police cannot definitively say if the body is that of Savannah until a full forensic examination has been completed.
“This will hopefully shed more light on the matter soon,” Traut explains.
Traut also confirms a man and woman have been arrested on a charge of kidnapping, linked to the disappearance of Savannah.
* This article was published in the Daily Voice