Police in South Africa have identified the body of a British botanist who disappeared earlier this year while searching for rare seeds in a remote nature reserve.

Rachel and Rodney Saunders are thought to have been looking for rare plant seeds near the oNgoye Forest in KwaZulu-Natal province when they were last confirmed alive in mid-February.

Four suspects were arrested within days following a manhunt across the province. Three remain in custody, facing charges of murder, assault and abduction.

The badly decomposed body of Rodney Saunders, 74, was found a week after the alleged killing by fishermen in the Tugela river and took several weeks to be identified. Police have given no details of where the remains of his 63-year-old wife were found.



“A multi-pronged investigation … led to the positive identification of the mortal remains of Rachel Saunders,” Capt Lloyd Ramovha of the elite Hawks investigative unit said in a statement.

Local media have reported that the couple, dual British-South African nationals who ran a business in Cape Town trading rare seeds, had been filmed by a team from BBC Gardeners’ World shortly before they disappeared.

Police believe they were kidnapped and murdered by Islamic extremists who talked of killing non-believers around the time of the attack.

The case prompted the UK’s Foreign Office to warn that terrorists were likely to try to carry out attacks in South Africa.

Africa’s most industrialised country has never suffered a major terrorist incident involving Islamic extremists and no attack followed a similar warning by Britain and the US in June 2016.

The new advice was described as alarmist by some local experts. But police evidence during bail hearings suggests the Saunders’ alleged killers were at least in part motivated by radical ideologies.

Sayfydeen Del Vecchio, 38, and Fatima Patel, 27, were detained in a raid on a house near Mtunzini, a small coastal town 30km (18 miles) from the oNgoye forest on 16 February. They face charges of kidnapping, murder and robbery.

A third man was found in possession of the couple’s mobile phones. He was sentenced to a suspended three-year sentence after coming to an agreement with prosecutors.

The case has led to criticism of South Africa’s security services.

Del Vecchio, who converted to Islam 15 years ago, was already on a watchlist after being seen on a quad bike watching planes landing and taking off at the King Shaka Zulu airport outside the city of Durban more than two years before the alleged murder.

Patel, who is the daughter of a Muslim cleric, was also on a watchlist after being arrested in July 2016 during an anti-terrorism raid conducted Johannesburg. She was later released on bail. Two brothers detained at the same time remain in custody, accused of planning attacks on Jewish, British and US interests in South Africa following contact with an Islamic State extremist.

Police found a drone, camping gear, generators and paintball equipment, all bought with Saunders’ bank card in a series of shopping trips, at the home Patel shared with Del Vecchio, along with a GPS device belonging to the couple.

Police also allege the couple once flew an Islamic State flag at their home.

Lawyers for the accused say police have exaggerated the links to the Islamic State.

A police statement to the court claims Del Vecchio had used Telegram, the encrypted messaging service, to advise an unidentified individual on bomb-making techniques.

Security officials and experts say there are no known Islamist militant groups actively targeting South Africa, where Muslims make up less than 2% of the population.