Hammer killer and the missing girl
The reported existence of footage taken shortly before the disappearance of Norwegian student Marie Ostbo, who went missing from Myoli Beach in Sedgefield 16 months ago, was denied by SA police this week.
Her father Atle Ostbo yesterday told Knysna-Plett Herald that imagery of a man and a dog was found on her cellphone taken shortly before she disappeared. CCTV footage and pictures taken by a Swiss couple depict the same imagery, he said.
Police have denied that such an image was on Ostbo’s cellphone. Atle also believes that the dog owner on the footage could be Sean Kelly, the man accused of the hammer murder of Sedgefield resident Noreen Hampson earlier this year. Atle now plans to come to South Africa to investigate the anomalies.
Ostbo and members of her tour group had decided to go for a pre-prandial walk along Myoli Beach on 18 April 2018.
Ostbo never returned from the walk. The ensuing search yielded only a cellphone, hat and shoes belonging to Ostbo on the beach.
According to Ostbo’s father, a number of videos relating to the final moments before she disappeared were found and viewed by Norwegian authorities.
Rapport’s Julian Jansen this week reported the videos included a Swiss couple on tour with Ostbo, some fishermen on the beach, and a man walking his dog. Atle told KPH that he has seen the content on his daughter’s phone and believes the man with the dog could be Kelly.
According to Atle, Kelly mentioned Ostbo’s disappearance in court earlier this year. “Why did he mention her name at all?” Atle asked KPH.
He told KPH that CCTV footage recorded just before Ostbo went to the beach depicts the same man and dog as in the video found on her phone. He said pictures taken by the Swiss couple, submitted to the Norwegian investigator, depict Ostbo playing with a dog resembling the pet on the video her phone had captured.
However, according to Southern Cape police spokesperson Captain Malcolm Pojie there is no proven link between Ostbo’s disappearance and Kelly, and neither is there footage of a man walking his dog.
“The cellphone was sent for analysis by the Norwegian police. According to the investigation team, no footage was found or submitted of a man walking his dog,” Pojie stated.
“We could not establish any linkage whatsoever between the disappearance of Marie and the Noreen Hampson-murder accused Sean Kelly.”
He also pointed out that no evidence of foul play was found during their investigations, and that “normal procedure should be that constant liaison is done with the Norwegian Embassy and Norwegian police who in return liaise directly with the family of Marie”.
Missing Marie Ostbo.
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Source: Knysna Plett Herald News