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Crime Reporter

POST-mortems on the bodies of a Chinese couple which were recovered from a small Harare dam two weeks ago after a three year search were conducted yesterday morning with Chinese pathologists in attendance.

The Chinese Embassy in Harare recently requested that pathologists from Beijing be part of the process.

Lei Ding (35) and his wife Chi Lifen (30) disappeared on St Valentine’s Day in 2020 and their car was found abandoned and intact the following day along Arcturus Road on the outskirts of Harare.

 So far one suspect, also a Chinese national, has been arrested in connection with the case.

The couple’s remains were discovered two Thursdays ago concealed in plastic drums recovered from Eastview Dam in Harare.

Since their disappearance police had been appealing for information on the whereabouts of the Chinese couple.

Their friends and relatives offered a US$1 million reward for anyone with information on their wherabouts. Advertisements with pictures of the couple were published in the local media announcing the reward.

Sources close to the investigations confirmed yesterday that the post-mortems to ascertain the cause of their deaths had been conducted.

Police engaged Interpol and Chinese authorities as they widened their investigations to establish the whereabouts of the two.

Mr Lei, a director of a local company, Yafei Building Material and Mining, and his wife lived in Borrowdale Brooke.

Information from the CCTV footage obtained from their house showed the couple leaving at around 11.48am on the day of their disappearance in a white Mercedes Benz ML registration number AFA 3322 to visit a friend in Highlands, who is also a Chinese national.

They met their friend outside his house at around 12.38pm before they left for an unknown destination.

The following day, their vehicle was discovered by officers from Mabvuku Police Station parked along Arcturus Road, with the keys still in the ignition. 

Police also found keys to the couple’s house, US$12 and Mr Lei’s firearm certificate but the gun was not in the car.