THE //Karas police were late yesterday afternoon still busy trying to retrieve the bodies of two German nationals who were found in the Fish River Canyon on Monday morning, six days after they went missing.
They are believed to be a mother (48) and her daughter (29), who had come to collect the remains of Navinia Sarah Perry who died in a car accident on 8 December last year along the Uis road.
Perry (22) was the daughter of the 48-year-old woman and the sister of the 29-year-old.
//Karas regional police commander Johannes Tsuseb said the police only started the process of retrieving the bodies - using a helicopter - yesterday morning.
“On the day the bodies were discovered, the police scene of crime and detective unit officials only cordoned off the area to carry out investigations,” said Tsuseb.
He said once the bodies are retrieved, they will be transported to Windhoek for a post-mortem and DNA tests.
He was reluctant to comment on allegations that the German nationals had committed suicide, although sources who were part of the rescue and search operation said a preliminary investigation indicated that the pair might have jumped into the canyon from the cliff face.
“The manner in which they landed in the canyon indicates that they bound themselves with a rope before jumping off the cliff,” the sources said.
The sources further said the Canyon Village Lodge employees, where the women were booked, told police investigators that the pair had asked for a rope before leaving for the canyon.
According to the sources, a suicide note was allegedly found among the women's belongings but it did not bear a name, signature or date.
The note, the sources hinted, was written in German and suggested that the pair had committed suicide.
Tsuseb confirmed the suicide note, but added quickly that “it did not bear any name or signature”. He also said police investigations into the deaths were ongoing.
The names of the two women were not revealed yesterday, pending permission from the German embassy in Namibia to release their names.
The German embassy spokesperson, Ullrich Kinne, refused to comment or to disclose the names.
“We're not authorised to give personal information about consular cases,” Kinne said.
