CAPE TOWN — South African police have found the body of former world high jump champion Jack Freitag, who went missing last month, local media reported Wednesday.
According to reports, the 42-year-old athlete, who won the world championships in Paris in 2003 and competed in the 2004 Athens Olympics, was shot.
His family declined to comment.
Police said the body was found in a field near a cemetery in Pretoria.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the identity of the body has not yet been formally confirmed by family members.
but In a statement to ESPN On Thursday, Brigadier Brenda Muridili of the South African Police Service said “the family has confirmed that the body is his.”
“I can confirm that the missing persons case in Hercules has been changed to a homicide case,” she added, according to ESPN.
“No one has been arrested yet but police are following up on leads,” Mr Muridili added, according to the media.
Freitag’s sister, Chrissie Lewis, had asked for help on social media to find Freitag, who went missing after leaving her mother’s home in the early hours of June 17.
Lewis said he struggled with drug addiction after his playing career ended.
Freitag was one of a select number of athletes to win world titles at the youth, junior and senior levels.
