A MUM and her two young children were killed when their car plunged over a 300-foot cliff into the sea, it is believed.
Heidi Scheepers, 35, and daughter Cuzette, 6, and son Hugo, 2, died instantly after their VW Caravelle smashed into rocks after being parked at a cliff-top car park.
The people carrier sunk beneath the waves, with the family’s disappearance sparking a huge manhunt in Herolds Bay, South Africa.
But on Thursday rescuers found Hugo’s body strapped into his car seat floating near the wreckage of the vehicle as cops try to recover all three bodies.
It is not yet clear what caused the tragedy, with police probing if it was an accident or the car was forced over the cliff edge.
Cops were alerted when Heidi and her children failed to return home from a walk on the beach to have dinner with the children’s dad, Ettienne.
CLIFF TRAGEDY
The 36-year-old dad-of-two spent Tuesday afternoon playing with his family on the beach before the tragedy.
But he got home that evening and realised his wife and children weren’t at their home, a short drive from the car park.
He said: “I started phoning all her friends and family, but nobody had seen her.
“I went driving round the streets looking for her car but when it got to 9pm I found no sign and went to the police.”
Police feared Heidi and her children may have been kidnapped, but tyre tracks were found leading over the cliff edge.
A South African Police source said: “Below the point where the tyre tracks left the road and on rocks right by the sea below there was some wreckage from the missing VW Caravelle.
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“A helicopter was called in along with the coastguard and divers and then we brought in climbers to abseil down the cliff but it appeared that the car itself had been completely submerged.
“At low tide a tyre was seen so we knew where the wreckage was but the sea was very rough and it was getting dark so we called off the operation until the Thursday morning at dawn.
“It became apparent that the situation had moved from that of a rescue to a recovery of the missing woman and her two children which was very emotional for all those involved.”
