Theresa Buys

Theresa Buys (1971 - 2014)

Brief overview:

Theresa (43), an art teacher at Cradock Preparatory School, went missing from her home in Cradock, Eastern Cape, on 5th August 2014. Investigations uncovered that she was murdered in her rented home on a farm. Police combed the Fish River after her car was spotted in Michausdal, an informal settlement in Cradock.

Her body was eventually retrieved from the river on 22nd August. She was found partly submerged in the water between the reeds on the river bank after an intensive search by various police units; including divers, K9 search and rescue and the Mounted Unit. The Water Affairs Department also assisted by dropping the water levels. They searched as far as 50km along the Fish River to the Elandsdrift Dam. Her body was recovered a few days afterwards.

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
  • Theresa leaves behind her mother, Julianna Marais, her estranged husband, Johan, and their daughter Katja (16).
• Funeral/Memorial
  • At the memorial service at the school, pupils paid tribute to Theresa by decorating the hall with drawings.
• The Farm/Smallholding
• The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)

Attack Details:

• Date and time of attack
• Weapons
• Items Stolen
• Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
• Torture, Gratuitous violence
• Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.

Perpetrator details:

• Number and Descriptions
• Arrests
• Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction
  • Marius Isaacs (25), a farm worker, appeared in Cradock court, and denied bail.
  • After Isaacs had murdered Theresa, he stole her vehicle, then threw her body from the Tams low-level bridge. The police's Stephanie Smith says "The body will now be taken for a post-mortem. We are just very glad we were able to retrieve the body from the river."
  • The case was postponed to 17th September 2014.

Additional Biographical Information:

Links to Media articles:

• http://archive.is/21gFD
• https://www.facebook.com/HeraldLIVE/videos/696466750434828/ (video footage)
• https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-herald-south-africa/20...
• http://archive.is/L3ITh
• http://archive.is/F8fmz