Cremer Meghan

Age 30. Meghan Cremer, a 30-year-old horse rider and showjumper who disappeared on 3 August 2019 from Vaderlandsche Rietvlei stud farm located near Ottery and Philippi in Cape Town. She lived in a cottage on the property. Her body was found five days later, on 8 August 2019, discarded at a sand mine on Olieboom Road in Philippi. A post-mortem examination revealed she died from strangulation, with a blue ribbon wound six times around her neck, hands, and feet, and she also sustained blunt force trauma to her head. Police initially arrested three men from Ottery, namely Jeremy Sias, Charles Daniels, and Shiraaz Jaftha, after catching them in possession of her stolen white Toyota Auris vehicle. Jeremy Sias, a general laborer on the farm where she lived, was charged with premeditated murder, aggravated robbery, theft, and obstruction of justice. During a lengthy trial in the Western Cape High Court, Sias admitted to discovering her body in the boot of the car and disposing of it, but he vehemently denied murdering her, claiming he found the car keys in the ignition and took it for a joyride. In January 2023, High Court Judge Elizabeth Baartman acquitted Jeremy Sias of the murder and robbery charges, citing that the State failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, but convicted him on two counts of theft and defeating the ends of justice. Sias was sentenced to eight years in prison, which was suspended for four years. State prosecutors subsequently applied for leave to appeal the murder acquittal, which the High Court initially denied, prompting ongoing legal efforts by the state to overturn the acquittal.