Gert van Rooyen

Cornelius Gerhardus van Rooyen (11 April 1938 – 15 January 1990), better known as Gert van Rooyen, was a South African paedophile and serial killer who abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered at least six young girls between 1988 and 1989. Van Rooyen married and subsequently fathered six children: Anne Marie, Judith, Hannes, Flippie, Gerhard and Adriaan, and earned a legitimate living running a building construction business together with his brothers.

In 1979, Van Rooyen abducted two girls, aged 10 and 13, taking them to the Hartbeespoort Dam near Pretoria, where he punched them in the face, ordered them to remove their clothing and sexually molested them. Van Rooyen released the girls in Pretoria the following day, and was subsequently arrested and sentenced to four years imprisonment for the abduction, sexual assault and common assault of the girls, serving three years before being released. Her brother Mark, who had declined an offer to go shopping with her, was severely guilt-ridden and traumatised by her disappearance. In later life he was found guilty of the murder of a farm worker, beating him and throwing his unconscious body to the lions. On 22 December 1988, 12-year-old Fiona Harvey of Pietermaritzburg disappeared. A white Ford Bantam pick-up truck used in her abduction with an advertisement for Van Rooyen's building-contracting business on it would later link him to this crime. On 7 June 1989, 12-year-old Joan Horn of Pretoria disappeared. On 22 September 1989, 11-year-old Odette Boucher and 12-year-old Anne-Mari Wapenaar, both of Kempton Park, disappeared. Another son, Gerhard, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for theft and fraud. Subsequent DNA testing did not identify any of the Van Rooyen victims. The South African Police have not released further details, which would lead one to believe there was no positive identification made.

Significant public attention has been brought to bear on the case by the investigative television series Carte Blanche which dedicated an episode to the mystery.

In November 2007, bones were discovered in a property adjacent to Van Rooyen's house in Pretoria whilst the ground was being dug up to install a swimming pool. Local authorities were alerted and police forensic experts were to determine if the bones were human.