Pretoria – The bodies of three minor boys who were reported kidnapped on Monday night have been found burnt beyond recognition inside a car in a bush in Temba, north of Pretoria on Tuesday, police said.

The boyfriend of the mother of two of the three children was also found hanging inside his house in Mathibestad, North West, Gauteng police spokesperson Lieutenant Kay Makhubela said.

It is unclear if he is the father of two of the children.

The children were initially reported missing on Monday night, after the 40-year-old boyfriend took them on New Year’s Eve while the 30-year-old mother was not around, Makhubela said.

The man allegedly threatened to kill her two children, as well as her nephew – a three-year-old boy who was with her two sons.

The three children, aged four, three and 12, were found after a passerby noticed the burned car and bodies and alerted police.

The motive was unknown, but a case of murder has been opened by Temba police, Makhubela said.