Family of slain Brit couple ask killers to disclose the place stays are

The family of an elderly British couple murdered in a suspected Muti killing after being abducted from their remote South African farm are urging their killers to reveal where their remains are so they can ‘get closure’. 

Grandparents Tony and Gillian Dinnis, 73, and 78, vanished without a trace from their homestead near Middlerus in KwaZulu-Natal province in August last year.

Police believe the retired couple, originally from Kent, were killed in a Muti killing – where their body parts are butchered for black magic, claiming they give people special powers.

Their devastated family believe their fingers and ears were chopped off for 50,000 Rand (£2,170) for a witchdoctor known as a Sangoma – while they were still alive before being murdered and their bodies dumped somewhere.

Now they are calling on the suspects to tell them where Tony and Gill’s remains are.

Despite three arrests, police have not been able to press charges due to lack of evidence in what the family say has been a bungled investigation due to lack of resources. Ten months on their bodies have not been found. 

Anthony and Gillian Dinnis were kidnapped from their South African home and ‘may have been dismembered with their body parts sold to witch doctors’ a court heard

Kate Anderson, their daughter, said she just wants the closure of knowing what happened to her parents through the return of their remains 

Gang members allegedly cut off Gillian and Anthony’s (pictured together) body parts and travelled to Johannesburg to find a witch doctor to sell the bloodied parts for cash

The couple have been married for 53 years and were ‘devoted to each other’ according to their family. They have five children and seven grandchildren. 

Tony and Gillian’s daughter Kate Anderson, 52, said: ‘My mum and dad always wanted their ashes mixed so they could be eventually scattered together.

‘But we just don’t know where they are. We have been told their fingers and ears were cut off. Under Muti ritual, this would’ve been done when they were still alive.

‘The police have searched waterfalls along the river as Muti killings have to be carried out by running water. But they could be anywhere. The area is so remote and vast.

‘All we want is justice and their remains back so we can get closure for them.

‘I can’t sleep at night worrying about where they are. They could’ve been scavenged by animals or they were thrown into the river.’

The real estate agent who lives in Cape Town added: ‘I am fearful we will never find them or get justice.

‘The priority is to find them and to lay them to rest with respect.

‘I haven’t slept a night through since. We need to find my parents. Knowing that no one is actively looking for them is very troubling.

‘We are so very heartsore that they seem to have been forgotten about. As they are still considered to be ‘missing’ why are there no efforts to find ‘missing’ people?

‘If the police believe them to be deceased, why are they not doing anything? They simply don’t care.’

Tony and Gill emigrated to South Africa from Sandhurst, near Tunbridge Wells in 1988 with their five children.

They had run a successful third generation family farm near Sandhurst raising sheep, growing vegetables as well as hops for the Whitbread brewery but moved for the chance of better farming prospects in South Africa.

But they moved to the homestead near Middlerus – 45 minutes’ drive from the nearest town of Mooi River – to retire around seven years ago, integrating with the local community.

Kate’s daughter raised the alarm after she could not get any contact from her grandparents and they knew immediately something was wrong as the couple’s 4×4 was at the house.

Search teams continue to look for the remains of the elderly British couple who vanished

The couple vanished without a trace from their homestead near Middlerus in KwaZulu-Natal province last year

The couple had been married for 53 years and were ‘devoted to each other’

The couple, from Kent, were abducted from their South Africa farm before the alarm was raised by their neighbour Kevin after he hadn’t seen them in two days

When they went inside the property – the kitchen table was untouched. Their plates left empty with their knives and forks on them as if they had just finished a meal. Glasses of juice were still on the table.

Kate said: ‘Everything was as they had left it. Pots on the stove, glasses of juice still there. It was like the Martians had beamed them up. It was the Marie Celeste.’

Seven days after they disappeared the family began receiving ransom demands for 2m Rand to get their parents back.

But Kate fears they were already dead and that the ransom demand was an effort to get even more money from the family.

Ten months on and there is no end in sight to the conclusion of the case.

Kate said: ‘I am fearful we will never find them or get justice. It is so frustrating. There are no answers.’