DNA test results match missing boy’s

Park in November last year have matched that of Given Flint Matapure. Matapure (3) went missing at the Exhibi­tion Park in August last year during the Harare Agricultural Show.

The results arrived in the country on Mon­day.
National police spokesperson Inspector Blessmore Chishaka yesterday confirmed the DNA results were out.
“We can confirm that the results we obtained from Forensic Laboratories in South Africa are matching or confirming that of the deceased Given Flint Matapure.

“We are continuing to investigate the case to ascertain what transpired,” he said.
According to sources close to the investi­gations, police contacted the Matapure fam­ily on Wednesday informing them about the lat­est development.

When contacted yesterday, the boy’s mother Mrs Wengesayi Dick Matapure con­firmed that the results were out but she could not comment further.
“Yes, the DNA test results are out but at the moment I am not able to comment on the issue since I want to inform some of our rela­tives on these new developments.

“It will be unfair for them to find out the developments from the media. I will only be able to talk to you on Saturday,” she said.
Mrs Matapure and her husband, accord­ing to sources, yesterday visited Harare Central Police Station where they were offi­cially informed of the forensic results.
“The results of the remains which were picked at the showground have positively matched those of the missing boy, Given. Tests were conducted in South Africa and we are still continuing with our investiga­tions,” a police source said.

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The remains are still at Harare Central Hospital mor­tuary.
Detectives from the Criminal Investiga­tions Department (CID) Law and Order Sec­tion are handling the investigations.
In November, a Zimbabwe Agricultural Show Society worker discovered skeletal remains while clearing a piece of land for farm­ing inside the Exhibition Park. Police took the remains for forensic exami­nation to determine the cause of death and possible identity.

The clothes found at the scene were iden­tified as the ones Given, who disappeared in August, was wearing when he was last seen. The clothes included a belt, T-shirt, shoes and a pair of trousers.
Given’s parents and the police have been searching for him since he disappeared.

The toddler went missing while attending the show with his sister Grace (15) and the family maid at the Exhibition Park.
A Harare teenage maid also appeared in court in connection with the case.
She was arrested after she allegedly called Given’s father claiming to know his son’s where­abouts, only to fail to explain where the boy was.

Pastor Royce Archibald Kasumba (30) was slapped with an effective three-year jail term after he swindled the Matapure family of US$2 000 on the pretext that he could locate the boy.
Since last year, many children have been reported missing in parts of Harare and Chi­tungwiza.