[imagesource: World Athletics website]

The police have found the two people connected to former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag’s murder.

They have now shared the photos of the two and have obtained arrest warrants, believing that Chantelle Oosthuizen and Rudie Lubbe are on the run from the law following the discovery of Freitag’s body.

Following an exhaustive search and public appeals for information, police discovered the 42-year-old’s bullet-riddled body in a field near Zandfontein Cemetery in Pretoria last week. The former top athlete was allegedly also stabbed.

The police’s search for the knife, projectile and bullet casings didn’t yield any results. However, Lubbe and Oosthuizen are facing charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, per The Citizen.

Chantell Oosthuizen and Rudie Lubbe. | Image: X/SA Police Service

The over two-metre-tall jumper turned 42 just days before he was picked up by a man in the early hours of Monday morning, 17 June from his mother Hendrina Pieters’ Bronkhorstspruit home.

Freitag was last seen at a guesthouse in Pretoria, where an unknown person dropped him off. Staff at the guesthouse confirmed that the lanky athlete only had a toiletry bag with him and paid cash. The guesthouse is situated four kilometres from the cemetery where Freitag’s body was discovered.

Freitag is alleged to have been offered R60,000 for ‘a job’ by the unknown man who picked him up, but Netwerk24 reported that he was only paid R6,000 at the time of his disappearance because he “failed to do the job properly”.

Freitag sought help for his years-long battle against drug and alcohol addiction at the Breakthrough Wellness Centre in eMalahleni, Mpumalanga, in July 2023.

“I am a druggie. A recovering addict. I am God’s mistake,” the former four-time South African gold medalist said in an interview with Witbank News.

Rapport mentioned that the 2003 Paris world champion in the high jump had struggled with drug use since hanging up his spikes.

Freitag was arrested after he was allegedly found in possession of the drug Cat (methcathinone), and appeared in the Bronkhorstspruit court on 12 November 2012.

He also reportedly lost his job as a coach at the University of Pretoria for using a person off the street to stand in for him on occasion when he was unable to coach. Freitag’s sister Lewis also told the paper that they were mostly estranged as she had to protect herself and her family from the dangers of his drug use, saying “I am a single mother and have had to look after my kids and protect them. He has been on drugs for most of the time.”

It is unclear who or why Chantell Oosthuizen and Rudie Lubbe are involved, but anyone with information on the whereabouts of the suspects is encouraged to contact the investigating officer, Detective Captain Martin Smith, on 082 778 9385 or the SAPS CrimeStop number, 08600 10111.

[source:citizen]