Cattle herder’s remains buried after decade-long delay
A cattle herder who worked on the farm of former minister Joel Kaapanda when he went missing on 4 August 2015 has finally been laid to rest.
Fillipus Jurius was just 25 years old when he disappeared from Onamatanga cattle post in the Omusati Region.
Although his body was found just 12 days later, his family was unable to bury him until this month.
He was laid to rest last Saturday – 10 years after his decomposed remains were discovered on Kaapanda’s farm, where he had been working. He would have turned 35 this year.
Although a post-mortem was conducted in October 2015, official results confirming his identity were only finalised and released on 18 August 2025.
“They told us there were no testing kits available at the time,” recalled his aunt, Frieda Muulu, in an interview with this publication.
“Sometimes they said the results went to South Africa, other times Kenya, or simply Windhoek. We never knew the truth. But now they confirmed it, and we could finally lay him to rest, ten years after.”
Relief
For the family, the moment was both painful and freeing. At the graveside in Onamatanga, as his coffin was lowered into the soil, they wept in sorrow but also in relief that the years of uncertainty were finally over.
“A heavy weight has been lifted from our shoulders,” Muulu said.
A police officer told Namibian Sun that the case should not have taken a decade to finalise.
At the time, Namibia lacked the capacity to carry out DNA tests locally and had to rely on foreign laboratories. Today, such analyses can be conducted within the country.
Kaapanda did not attend the funeral but sent two men to represent him and to transport Jurius’ remains home.
For the Jurius family, Saturday’s burial brought closure to years of silence and unanswered questions. Though grief remains, their loved one has finally been laid to rest among his people, remembered with love.
Fillipus Jurius was just 25 years old when he disappeared from Onamatanga cattle post in the Omusati Region.
Although his body was found just 12 days later, his family was unable to bury him until this month.
He was laid to rest last Saturday – 10 years after his decomposed remains were discovered on Kaapanda’s farm, where he had been working. He would have turned 35 this year.
Although a post-mortem was conducted in October 2015, official results confirming his identity were only finalised and released on 18 August 2025.
“They told us there were no testing kits available at the time,” recalled his aunt, Frieda Muulu, in an interview with this publication.
“Sometimes they said the results went to South Africa, other times Kenya, or simply Windhoek. We never knew the truth. But now they confirmed it, and we could finally lay him to rest, ten years after.”
Relief
For the family, the moment was both painful and freeing. At the graveside in Onamatanga, as his coffin was lowered into the soil, they wept in sorrow but also in relief that the years of uncertainty were finally over.
“A heavy weight has been lifted from our shoulders,” Muulu said.
A police officer told Namibian Sun that the case should not have taken a decade to finalise.
At the time, Namibia lacked the capacity to carry out DNA tests locally and had to rely on foreign laboratories. Today, such analyses can be conducted within the country.
Kaapanda did not attend the funeral but sent two men to represent him and to transport Jurius’ remains home.
For the Jurius family, Saturday’s burial brought closure to years of silence and unanswered questions. Though grief remains, their loved one has finally been laid to rest among his people, remembered with love.
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