The usually peaceful community of Fern Valley in Mutare is grappling with a chilling discovery that has left residents shaken and fearful.
City of Mutare employees, while collecting stones for construction in the mountainous area, stumbled upon a shallow trench containing four human skulls and an assortment of skeletal remains, Manica Post has reported.
The discovery, made recently, has sparked a wave of unease and speculation among residents, with many questioning how the remains ended up in the remote location.
“We were going about our routine duties of clearing the area, and picking stones when we spotted something unusual,” said Mrs Ruby Madzima, one of the six employees who made the horrifying find.
“We were working in the area the previous week and there was no trench. At first I thought it was a carcass of a beast, but my colleagues were not convinced. When we drew closer, we realised that they were human remains. We called the police, who reacted swiftly.”
Upon arrival, police ordered that the trench to be dug further.
“When the police arrived, they called their superiors who ordered them to dig the trench. The first human skull to be uncovered had no hair on it. We discovered other remains that we concluded were of a human being,” Mrs Madzima explained.
“We later asked ourselves how long the trench might have been there because we were working there the previous week. As the police kept digging, three more skulls and other human remains were exhumed.”
The methodical manner in which the remains were buried, with each skull accompanied by its corresponding skeletal remains, led Mrs Madzima to believe that the individuals responsible for dumping them had done so with a certain level of care.
“Whoever dumped the human remains there, did it so carefully as they were buried in an orderly way — each skull with its own skeletal remains. The soil excavated from the trench was still fresh, which raised suspicions that someone from Fern Valley dumped the remains in the trench recently,” she said.
“Remember, we have new residential stands where people are building, and it could be possible that someone could have stumbled on old graves at their residential stand, and exhumed them for reburial in the mountain. But they should have done the correct thing of informing the police and the traditional leadership so that the correct rituals could be done to cleanse the area. You cannot exhume human remains of strangers and then dump them in the manner they did. Surely some people are daring. I cannot imagine myself doing that. It is really scary. I have never seen anything like it in my entire life.”
The discovery has left a palpable sense of fear in the community.
“The Fern Valley community is still in shock, and some are suspecting that this could have been a mass murder, and the victims’ bodies were dumped in the mountain to conceal evidence,” said Mr Shadreck Mavhuka who is a Fern Valley resident.
“It is actually terrifying to imagine something of this nature happening so close to your house. Why would someone remove those human skulls and remains without alerting the police and other relevant authorities? What were they hiding and whose remains are these? These are some of the questions we keep asking ourselves,” he continued.
Acting Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Wiseman Chinyoka, confirmed the grim discovery and assured the public that investigations are underway.
“On August 19, Mr Jonathan Maiwasha and others were picking up stones meant for construction in the Spiritans Mountain in Fern Valley when they discovered a suspected human bone protruding from a trench. Mr Maiwasha reported the matter at Fern Valley Police Base, who reacted swiftly and proceeded to the mountain where they saw a recently dug surface,” he said.
Police used a shovel and dug further into the trench before uncovering four human skulls, 13 suspected arm bones, two broken bones believed to be pelvic bones, a baby wool hat, wool trousers, and broken rib bones.
“We are treating this discovery with utmost seriousness, and are conducting thorough investigations to determine the identities of the victims, circumstances surrounding their deaths, and the events leading to their burial at the location,” Assistant Inspector Chinyoka said.
“We are appealing to anyone with information that may assist in our investigations to come forward and assist us in piecing together the events surrounding this tragic discovery,” he said.
In a separate incident, human remains of a male adult were discovered in Buhera.
“Aaron Musuka was at Murambinda Cemetery attending a relative’s burial with other residents when he went into a nearby hill intending to relieve himself, and discovered some human remains, which include a human skull and bones. Besides them was a grey pair of trousers. He rushed back to inform other mourners, who accompanied him to the hill, and a police report was made,” Assistant Inspector Chinyoka explained.
The police recovered a pair of torn trousers, shorts, a black belt, white and blue striped boxer shorts containing bones, a Samsung cellphone with a Botswana sim card, a white shirt hanging from a nearby tree, and an okapi knife, 150 Rand and 20 Pula notes in the deceased’s wallet. Inside the wallet was a national identity card for Farai Quinton (40). The skull was found inside a hat.
“Thorough investigations revealed that Farai Quinton was on the police wanted persons list in connection with a murder case committed in 2023,” Assistant Inspector Chinyoka said.
