World Champion High Jumper Found Shot to Death Near South African Cemetery
The body of South African high jump superstar Jacques Freitag was found this week riddled with bullets near a cemetery in his home country, bringing a weeks-long saga to a conclusion following his June 17 disappearance.
The former world champion was found blood-soaked on a patch of grass in Pretoria West, and police say they are treating the case as murder. He was last seen leaving his mother’s house with an unknown man, and was declared missing soon after.
Local reports suggested that the star athlete may have been down on his luck and even struggling with drug addiction at the time of his disappearance, according to The South African, a local English-language news site.