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A witness who spoke on condition of anonymity said the man (name withheld) who is believed to have been staying in Pumula East, reportedly went missing on 18 June until his body was discovered on Saturday afternoon in a trench in the bush near the suburb.

“It is believed that the man left his home for work on 18 June at 7.30am but he never came back. He was working for a local timber company. On 23 June in the afternoon his sister reported the case at Pumula Police Station,” said the witness.

The witness said the corpse was discovered by a police officer who was walking past the bush.

“Coincidentally, by the time the man’s sister went to report the case, a police officer that was going to work sensed the horrible stench of the decomposing body. He tried to figure out what it was and discovered it was a corpse. He quickly called the police station and the officers attended the scene,” said the witness.

Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo confirmed the incident.

“We are investigating a case where a decomposing dead body of a 50-year-old man was found in Pumula on 23 June 2012. We have not established the cause of death but preliminary investigations suggest that he could have been murdered,” said Insp Moyo without elaborating.