Post-mortem results for Chinese couple still being compiled

Crime Reporter

FORENSIC scientists and pathologists were yesterday still compiling the report and results from the post-mortems they conducted on the Chinese couple whose bodies were recovered from a small Harare dam two weeks ago after a three-year search.

So far three suspects, all Chinese, have since been arrested in connection with the case.

Xu Lin Lin and Luo Yengshen were arrested in China and efforts are being made to extradite them. The third suspect is Chen Long who was arrested in Avondale, Harare and is currently in remand prison.

The Chinese couple went missing in February 2020 after they had briefly visited a friend in Highlands, Harare. Their bodies were recently recovered from drums in a dam in Harare and the post-mortems on their bodies were conducted on Thursday morning with Chinese pathologists in attendance at the request of the Chinese Embassy.

Meanwhile, sources close to the investigations yesterday confirmed that efforts were still being made to extradite the other two suspects who are in China and they have since contacted Chinese authorities to assist in the matter.

The two are believed to have fled the country a few days after the couple went missing and their arrests came after intensive investigations were conducted by the police in Harare.

Lei Ding (35) and his wife Chi Lifen (30) disappeared on St Valentine’s Day in 2020 and their car was found abandoned and intact the following day along Arcturus Road on the outskirts of Harare.

The couple’s remains were discovered two Thursdays ago concealed in plastic drums recovered from Eastview Dam in Harare.

Since their disappearance police had been appealing for information on the whereabouts of the Chinese couple.

Their friends and relatives offered a US$1 million reward for anyone with information on their whereabouts. Advertisements with pictures of the couple were published in the local media announcing the reward.

Police engaged Interpol and Chinese authorities as they widened their investigations to establish the whereabouts of the two other suspects.

Mr Lei, a director of a local company, Yafei Building Material and Mining, and his wife lived in Borrowdale Brooke. Information from the CCTV footage obtained from their house showed the couple leaving at around 11.48am on the day of their disappearance in a white Mercedes Benz ML registration number AFA 3322 to visit a friend in Highlands, who is also a Chinese national.

They met their friend outside his house at around 12.38pm before they left for an unknown destination.

The following day, their vehicle was discovered by officers from Mabvuku Police Station parked along Arcturus Road, with the keys still in the ignition.

Police also found keys to the couple’s house, US$12 and Mr Lei’s firearm certificate but the gun was not in the car.