A family's fight for answers following a rehabilitation centre tragedy

A Westville family is seeking justice for their son who died while in the care of a rehabilitation facility on the south coast.

They are hoping to be a step closer to finding the truth when four people appear in the Umlazi Magistrates Court tomorrow.

Luke Edwards, 32, was reported to have died on April 9 when his body was found allegedly in a property neighbouring Tetelestai Recovery Centre, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre in Winklespruit.

Edwards's parents Luke and Linda believe that their son may have been killed. They have enlisted the services of private investigator Brad Nathanson.  

Edwards' mother, Linda, said Luke, who had been living in Mexico, returned home in March to complete a book he had started writing.

She said Luke smoked marijuana at night before he went to bed to help him sleep.

"On his return in March Luke had gone into a bad psychosis and was smoking marijuana during the day. He was almost schizophrenic and was making up weird stories and becoming aggressive. He stayed with family for a few days which seemed to calm him but then he smoked marijuana, and the police had to be called because he was acting irrational and aggressive."

She said after police released him back into their care they convinced him to volunteer for rehabilitation, and he was taken to ARCA, a medical detox treatment centre.

"They had him on detox for two days. He would not comply any longer and wanted to leave. The doctor at ARCA suggested we move him," said Linda.

She said they met with the owner of Tetelestai Recovery Centre on April 1 to check if they would be able to cope with Luke, understood psychosis and have someone to medically check on him.

Linda said that they had advised the owner that once Luke had gone through their detox arrival process, they would get their own psychiatrist to attend and treat him.

"I messaged on numerous occasions to check if Luke was calm and if there were any issues. The last was on April 7. He was found deceased in the early morning of April 9," said Linda.

Linda said she received a call from the centre on April 9 informing her that Luke had absconded the night before.

"Luke was extremely clever, played a lot of chess, went to the gym daily and was proficient in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He was not addicted to any other drugs, and his system was completely clear of any drugs (other than marijuana) when he had the blood tests done at ARCA," she said.

Luke's father, Duncan, said they would be in court tomorrow hoping to find out what really happened to their son. He said the police investigating officer informed them that four people would be appearing.

Recalling the day he received the news about Luke's death, he said, "It was the worst day of my life having to identify my son. There is nothing more traumatic than to see my son so badly beaten.

"We were promised they would look after him and provide him psychiatric help and treatment. Instead he ended up dead. If they couldn't help they should have told us. We want justice for Luke and the truth about what happened," said Duncan.

Nathanson, said a number of former residents of the facility came forward since the news of Luke's death.

In a statement issued by Tetelestai Recovery Centre's managing director, Donovan de Klerk, it stated that due to ongoing public commentary, the centre felt compelled to clarify certain matters to ensure that misinformation did not cause further harm, especially to their current residents, their families, and their staff.

De Klerk said Luke was admitted to the centre on a voluntary basis and claims that on April 8 at 23:06pm, Luke left the Centre without authorisation.

"On April 9 at 01:30, CCTV footage from a neighbouring facility, a retirement home, shows Luke alive, coherent, fully clothed, and without visible injuries.

Later that morning, Luke was tragically discovered deceased lying in a big pool of blood on the retirement home property. Circumstances surrounding his death, including details regarding his injuries, are the subject of an active SAPS investigation, and we will not speculate on any cause or timeline," said De Klerk.

He said they were aware of various claims circulating on social media that suggest wrongdoing by Tetelestai Recovery Centre or its residents.

"We categorically deny any involvement in Luke Edwards’ death and reject the assertion that he was harmed while in our care," said De Klerk.

Police did not respond at the time of publishing.

SUNDAY TRIBUNE