Durban - Natasha Conabeer was a star beginning to shine when she was brutally plucked from the night sky and left to die.
This was how friends of the 23-year-old described her, after she died in hospital early on Monday.
Conabeer was last seen on Florida Road on August 19, but was last heard from on August 22. She was missing for three weeks until she was apparently dropped off at home in a critical condition on Sunday.
She was taken to hospital where she died.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane said Durban North police were investigating an inquest docket into Conabeer’s death and that a post-mortem would be conducted to determine the cause of death.
Conabeer’s friend, DJ Zamambo, said in a tweet on Sunday that she was in ICU and that she would update everyone as soon as she could.
On Monday morning she said: “Sad to announce that Natasha passed away earlier this morning.”
Conabeer’s death took her family, friends and the public by surprise, especially as she was found alive after going missing.
Her friend and fellow The Nudes band member, Mbali Mtshali, said there were no words to describe the events leading to her death.
“It kind of feels like false hope - from finding someone and thinking that they’ll be okay to this (her death),” Mtshali said.
She said she would miss the sister she had in Conabeer, because she did not let distance keep them apart.
“She always made time for calls; she would check up on me and send me random videos. I’m going to miss the sister in her, who she was in my life, and just making sure I was okay no matter what she was going through. She was extraordinary.”
Mtshali said Conabeer loved her family and friends, and once you became a friend, you became family.
Conabeer was described as bubbly and spontaneous, with a good heart.
“She had plans for her life. She knew she wanted to be an entertainer,” she said.
“Anyone who knew Natasha knows that girl had an amazing voice. We would try our best. We went to Idols, but she was very shy and had stage fright.”
Mtshali said they had recorded two songs, Freedom and Infatuation, with their friend and producer Brentano.
Their singing together started at UKZN around 2016, when Conabeer would sing around her and they started harmonising. They realised that they both loved singing, and Brentano invited them to record a song. After that, they never looked back.