Police in South Africa are searching for answers after the bodies of three police officers – who had been missing for six days – were found in a river.

Boipelo Senoge, 20, Cebekhulu Linda, 24, and Keamogetswe Buys, 30, were last seen leaving a petrol station near Johannesburg last Wednesday.

Their bodies were discovered by divers around 70km (43 miles) away in Hennops River earlier this week. The car they had been in was recovered from the same river on Thursday.

The police initially said they were investigating a “possible hijacking”, but speaking on Thursday, the police chief told journalists: “At this stage it looks like an accident,” though a forensic investigation needed to be concluded.

The three police officers – all constables – were travelling in a white VW Polo when they went missing, a police statement said.

Their vehicle tracking device and mobile phones have been off since then.

A search team subsequently “spent sleepless nights combing the length and breadth” of the Gauteng, Free State and Limpopo provinces, eventually finding parts of a vehicle “believed to be” a VW Polo, said national police commissioner Fannie Masemola.

A Renault Kangoo van was then found nearby on the banks of Hennops River, in the area of Centurion. Two other bodies were also found.

The VW Polo was pulled out of the river on Thursday.

The three officers were travelling from Free State to Limpopo, when they went missing.

Along with the three constables, the divers found the remains of a police employee, who has not been named. He had been driving the Renault van, said Gen Masemola.

He added that the fifth body was decomposed and had not yet been identified.

It is not clear if these discoveries are connected to the deaths of the police officers.

The search for the missing police officers was followed closely by the South African public and prayers for the three constables had been circulating across social media.

After the bodies were found, devastated loved ones gathered along the banks of the Hennops River, holding candles.

Speaking near where the vehicle was recovered on Thursday, Gen Masemola said: “We need to give the investigation a space. At the end of the day we can’t rule out anything, but we can’t conclusively say this is what happened… At this stage it looks like an accident until we finalise the forensics.”

This marks a significant change in tone from Sunday, when the commissioner said: “We cannot have criminals undermine the authority of the state by kidnapping three police officers. This is just a stern warning to those behind this incident, either you hand yourselves over, or we will fetch you ourselves.”