in light of the whole drama surrounding the dissapearance of Leigh Matthews, its sad, as a parent, to try and imagine what that would be like to have your child abducted and held for ransom. but 12 days after her dissapearance , the ranssom having being paid already and still no sign of her, I fear that she may already be dead.

Either that or she was in on it.

Thoughts?

well all i can say is that this type of thing is why i dont intend to raise a family in this country - id rather emigrate and then have kids

not sure if she was in on it or not but id warrant that stranger things have happened so it could be likely

Are there any links to updates on this story?

What exactly happened whent he ransom was picked up, all I heard was that her father did it without going to the police first.

http://www.leighmatthews.co.za/

http://www.findleighmatthews.co.za

a different site

That is dumb cos this stuff happens everywhere...
I hope they find her but like rush said is it unlikely...
but remember there is always hope!

I personally think she is still alive.

what makes me wonder is 2 things...
1) she made the call to her parents about the money and told them not to inform the police
2) there was never any tracking done on the cell phone which she phoned from (ie: from which tower the call was made, it would seriously narrow the search)

I think her and some guy(s) planned this whole thing.

There is hope!

Soon or later they will find her......

aight

This shit is only supposed to happen in movies.

Do you think it was only because he is the MD of an IT company or are there other extenuating (? spelling) circumstances or beliefs.

what makes me think she is in on this is:
1) You dont want to be found, u wont be found
2) She made the call to her parents
3) Lets say someone did kidnap her, then they would really know there homework, like exactly how liquid cash her father had. What better person to know this but her herself.
4) This thing was planned to good, there is an insider here somewhere, and I think she was the insider.
5) Ok granted a motive for kidnapping is the money, but then what is the motive for murder? and why would u want to hide the body once u murdered it. It just doesnt fit. If someone would go to such a lengh to footprint this family, to then kill the person and hide the body? I doubt it. They would want the body to be found. And those who study criminal psychology would proberbly be able to correct me / explain this better.

I am betting that give it a couple of months, she will turn up, and u will hear this whole hearted story of what they did to her, and how she managed to escape.

Yeah Dave I`ve also thought about that. What about leaving her in the bakkie while the one guy goes to get drink in a bottlestore? I mean surely you`ll get her out of sight ASAP and then get your drink? I think there`s more to this than meets the eye.

Edit: Does the family only have one pic of her? If it was my kid I`d be plastering as many pics as I can all over that site. Makes me wonder how close they really are.

well IMHO it could be possible that she staged the entire thing herself, I mean some of these things aren't uncommon, RICH parents angry child who need attention or moolah! got a car etc. hehehehe or maybe I've watched one too many Movies?

I have very sad news indeed
Leigh Matthews(21) body has been found near Grasmere.

My heart goes out to the Matthews family.

Rest In Peace Leigh Matthews.

Yeah, just heard the news now. Sad sad sad. My deepest condolences to her loved ones.

they say she had been dead about 4 - 5 days

that means she would have died on saturday - sunday

I guess my little assumtion was off, but then again, thats why I am in IT and not in the police.

nice one guys :/

Now I feel bad Sorry Matthews family.

R.I.P. Leigh

And may the murdering shit-fuck get what he deserves.

presidency?

DITTO

i sincerely also hope that the scumbag perpetrators are caught - and IMHO actually the death penalty would be too good for them - these arseholes need to be tarred and feathered and strung up by the balls like in the old days which still wont be enough punishment - i mean FFS they got the money then they still kill her - it just goes to show that the criminal element in this country is still mentally challenged - i hope that the police catch these retards

i think they should take the barstards to the middle of no-where, make a 2-3 millimeter puncture in their kidneys and leave them. its a very painful and long death (about 5 hours i am told).

My condolences to the Matthews family.

Rest in peace Leigh

R.I.P. Leigh

I saw the newspaper headlines this morning.
very very sad indeed.

RIP Leigh. Our prayers are with you.

My deepest condolences to the Matthews family.

To the criminals: I hope you rot in the eternal, flaming depths of hell.

Those people deserve to die the most painful death imaginable. It's sickening to know that people are capable of such blatant disregard for life.

I was disappointed in The Star today too; I think it's callous and insensitive to post a big picture of her face with 'MURDERED' written below it. Imagine her parents and friends seeing that on the way to work or school this morning?

R.I.P. Leigh.

i'm so angry and disgusted at how any human being can just have such disregard for life...

leigh was a great person... she always had a smile on her face and didn't deserve what happened to her...

hope they find the fuckers who did this... and if they don't, karma is a wonderful thing...

R.I.P. Leigh Matthews

did you know her?

To tell you the truth in this situation it's the Country's LAW at fault!

I mean what intent does the criminals have in giving her back? Nada! y? 1. They can get the money
2. They can get away from the crime
3. Why keep her aliver when they have the money?
4. What's the most they would get in Jail for murder? 5-10 years then parol?

Makes you wonder is there even anything to fear for creating crime?

Rush

yeah i did... we rowed together for Wits for a while, then she moved to bond univ.

Ferret

That's another thing that pisses me of no end tho - the fact that the newspapers are having an absolute party with this thing... driving to varsity this morning, i must have seen about 50 posters, each with their own "theories"... it's all a crock of shit - give it a fuckin rest and let the family mourn you tit heads!!!!

This is such an unspeakable tragedy. I've known her father, Rob, for years. He's a gentle giant and a man of impeccable character and gentility.

So what can we do about this, apart from rage at the injustice? Let's each one of us resolve NOT to harden our hearts, else evil triumphs just a little more. In our own daily lives, let's push back the frontiers of darkness. The only lasting solvent for evil is good, so let's do our daily bit to vanquish the barbarians in our own souls. If we start at home, the rest will follow.

point taken arthur...

i've had a pretty shit week as it is with this situation and when i think about it, there's nothing i can do to bring her back or to punish the one/s responsible. i've had a bad week because i made myself have a bad week... it's all in yr mind. Must keep telling myself that...

Condolences on yr loss too...

Thanks
matt

The media has taken harsh criticism from the public with regards to this case. But did they really conduct themselves wrongly?

Perhaps, some people believe that the family should be left to grieve and not have the picture spread over half the broadsheet. (paper that announced her death printed parents distraught with bloodshot eyes).

But was it not the parents who went to the media to get the attention? And that attention given by the media highlighted the plight of this family and abducted girls around the country (in one case a child was returned to her mother). A website and a help-line was setup, letters of hope poured in from around the country and even the world - all this would not have happened had not been for the exposure the media gave to this case.

Did everyone expect the media just to drop the story after she was dead? There was too much hype, and the public was lapping up every bit of it. The pictures of the grieving parents brought closure to the saga and people wanted to know what happened to her.

What annoyed me the most about this whole episode was the question "why Leigh Mathews?" What made this girl special, why did the media latch on to her story and nobody elses? (There are countless other cases).

I think it was her blonde hair, girl next door look, middle class family background and the Hollywood appeal of a ransom gone wrong.

Had it been a poor black girl from Soweto, it would have been a short in the crime section on page two.

END!

I agree that not enough is done for all of the kidnapping and murder cases in this country... because there are so many. It is tragic that not all of the abduction cases filed in this country are taken as seriously as the Matthews case was.

Leigh's kidnapping didn't get all that hype because of her 'girl next door' look or her blonde hair... it was the fact that this happened within the 'safe' confines of a university. The fact that she was from a middle class family has no bearing on the amount of attention the case got... there are numerous people from middle class backgrounds that are abducted and murdered every day. It's not that she was white either... i believe that everyone who is murdered, black, coloured, oriental or white, has the same right to a life that was taken away from them. All stories are equally tragic, and some are more publicised than others. I sometimes wish that Leigh's story had not had all the publicity it had, but then I wonder if all the other cases of kidnapping and murder would be taken seroiusly in future had we not had that one that opened everyones' eyes.

Yes, maybe the parents did go to the press for attention, but it's not just the parents who had to go through this ordeal. What about Leigh's friends, who had to drive to work, school or varsity every day and read the conspiracy theory headlines. It's all very tragic, but we need to move on and not get angry at the people responsible for the crime or at those who publicised the ordeal so.

...

I think that she did get more media attention because she was white and middle class.

I'm with driver on this, she was the pretty blonde girl next door from a well to do family who got kidnapped, thats why she got so much attention about the media well they are crass and they are rude so if you go to them for help you have to know what shit they're gonna shovel in you face afterwards.

Allow me to throw another curveball into this scenario...

Rumours are abounding atm about Leigh and drug abuse... The kidnappers only asked for 50k because that is the debt that she incurred with her dealer.

The reason she was killed? It got too big. Simple as that. I belive if her parents never went to the police then she would still be alive.

Whats your opinions on that one?

Well the plot thickens, interesting, and highly possible as well, but some facts to back up your claim mill?

Well the things is that not bringing the police in it is kind of difficult!Both ways can get screwed over and wonder what if you did/didn't went to the police! Off course they are gonna say don't go to the police (every movie has this plot)!
I mean do you know anyone who will hurt someone and be like please report me as soon as possible?I think not!
If they did it now they might aswell did it when they didn't went to the police!
Either way you look at it...it is over now and no matter what was the right or wrong choice (if there is one!) will bring this girl back!
Only thing that seems right now is punishing the bastards who did it (for any reason). But even after they were punished the wound of the parents won't be healed!

That's a very narrow minded view buddy... so she was better off than the other poor kidnapped victims... not everything has to turn racial ya know.



no offense millenia, but that is the biggest load of shit I've ever heard... Leigh was not on drugs, i know that for a fact.

C'mon guys... it's over, she's dead, and there's nothing that anyone can do about it. I don't wanna argue, so lets just leave it all...

Nope vet-gat, hence the reason i used the word "rumours"

This just came up when a bunch of us were sitting in a pub.

I dunno how true this is but apparently Mrs Matthews went on the radio and said something to the effect of "We forgive you Leigh, Please come home". But like i say no proof just a bunch of semi toasted ppl

becoming a conspiracy theorist mill?

let the girl RIP

thank you. you've got more brains than these other idiots.

There was a story running a week or so ago that a bar lady reportadly saw the girl in question at a pub in the area close to where her body was found with two Nigerian men.

If the police are going to be hush about what news they have and the progress (I can understand the reasoning), then the case is open to speculation.

The view that this story was so hyped because she was white, blonde, middle class, pretty etc. is not just an oppinion shared by myself, but media study lecturers, news editors and current affairs talk show hosts.

END!

a pub in the area near where they found her body ?

I seriously doubt that.

because the closest populated area to that area where her body was found is a coloured township where any 'Bar Lady' would not be a prime witness.

Actually Walkerville is not too far away...

some people will do anything to get their fifteen minutes... i highly doubt that this story is true.



so you just believe everything you read and see on TV? if this happened to a friend of yours, you would have a very different view... and why do you have to bring race into everything? it's a last resort arguement when you know that your arguements are a crock of sh%t.

I also highly doubt that story.


No matter how many people have that opinion, it remains just that: an opinion. Why do people constantly have to bring race into arguments like this? A human being was killed, and the first thing that people do is jump onto the racism/class/income bracket bandwagon. Shame on you

come back when you got a better arguement... this one just won't stand.

wow kaizoku for someone telling others that their arguments are shit you aren't coming up with much yourself KOOS

His argument is that some people are making this a race issue when it has nothing to do with race. Read properly before you post stupid comments like this.

Also if you read the entire thread (as you should before making comments yourself), you'll see that kaizoku knew Leigh; try to understand where he is coming from.

Well if you read the thread dumbass you would see that i replied relatively early, and what I (and driver) said was that it was a race issue, she got so much attension because she was white