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Pistorius girlfriend's family says Reeva is 'back home,' private funeral planned for Tuesday

By: Gerald Imray, The Associated Press

Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013 at 2:31 PM | Comments: 0

In this frame-grab from state television channel SABC 1 a tribute is devoted to slain model Reeva Steenkamp, girlfriend of Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius. South Africa’s national broadcaster went ahead with the screening of the reality TV show "Tropica Island of Treasure" Saturday, Feb 16, 2013, featuring the dead model. Steenkamp encouraged her family to watch in one of her last conversations with them before her shooting death at the home of Pistorius. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

JOHANNESBURG - The family of Reeva Steenkamp said Sunday her body was back in her hometown of Port Elizabeth after the model and reality TV contestant was shot dead inside the house of Oscar Pistorius. A private funeral will be held on Tuesday.

Adam Steenkamp, the brother of Pistorius' late girlfriend, told The Associated Press "Reeva is back home."

The family said that Steenkamp, who was shot multiple times and killed at the double-amputee Olympic athlete's home early Thursday, will be cremated in a ceremony closed to the public and the media in the city on South Africa's southern coast.

Pistorius was charged with her murder and is expected to make a second court appearance — also on Tuesday — for the start of his bail hearing. He remains in custody in a police station in Pretoria ahead of that hearing.

The 29-year-old Steenkamp was seen laughing and smiling on South African television Saturday night after national broadcaster SABC chose to air the first episode of a reality TV show in which she was featured. Her family said it did not oppose the program being aired because Steenkamp wanted people to see it and a short tribute to her was shown before the episode.

A fellow contestant on the "Tropika Island of Treasure 5" show told AP Television News that Steenkamp "was always making sure everyone was OK."

"Fun, crazy, loving, beautiful, gorgeous. She really was an angel and I still haven't come to terms with what happened," Katleho Molai said of Steenkamp. "I haven't really eaten, I'm struggling to sleep. So it's been really hard to come to terms with what's happened to her."

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Nastasya Tay of APTN contributed to this report.

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