Murder probe launched after two young children found dead in Malamulo dam as parents vanish

Police in Thyolo have launched a murder investigation after the bodies of two young children were pulled from a dam — with their parents nowhere to be found.

The victims were named locally as four-year-old Martha James and her one-year-old sibling Smart James, whose bodies were discovered floating in Malamulo Dam yesterday by local women who had gone to collect firewood.

Thyolo Police deputy public relations officer Blessing Rabson confirmed the grim discovery, revealing that detectives are now probing a chilling detail: the children’s parents were reportedly heard having a furious row just two days before the youngsters’ bodies were found.

Chillingly, the couple have not been seen in the village since.

“Preliminary investigations show that the children’s parents were heard quarrelling two days before the bodies were found and have not been seen in the village since then,”  Rabson said.

He added that detectives rushed to the scene as soon as the alarm was raised, before the children’s bodies were taken to Thyolo District Hospital, where they will undergo a postmortem examination to determine the exact cause of death.

Police have now launched a frantic manhunt for the missing parents, who remain the focus of the investigation, as the search for answers in the tragedy continues.

Rabson confirmed that investigations are ongoing, with officers appealing for anyone with information on the whereabouts of the missing couple to come forward.