Still no sign of eccentric German millionaire

MORE than a year after being reported missing, German national, Dietrich Scholz, has still not been found and his upmarket home in JB Marks (Chelmsford) Road remains abandoned and in a serious state of neglect. Police detectives investigating the disappearance of the eccentric millionaire, who was a well-known sight in the area, say they are still working on the case but have uncovered no leads to the whereabouts of Scholz.

Recently, after residents complained about the state of the abandoned property, Berea Mail visited the site only to find clear evidence that vagrants are now occupying the house and property. According to neighbour Darrel Williams, he used to drive past the house every day, and recently noticed the electric fencing on the property had been broken, some windows were open and the curtains could be seen.

“I drove past again and noticed the curtains were gone. There have been people on the property. If the bank is still paying the electricity, why can’t the fence be put on to keep them out?” he said.

Williams said Scholz’s disappearance was very strange. “The house was secure, someone must have walked in with him,” he said.

Bulwer Community Safety Forum chairperson, Heather Rorick, said the civilian group had noticed the broken fence and missing curtains on its patrols.

“We used to see the curtains half open, then half closed, now they are gone. There is also a half empty bottle of water outside the garage which wasn’t there before. The wires have been stripped in the garage and bikes which were there before are now gone. We always checked up on the house when doing vehicle patrols,” she said.

Berea Mail, together with Rorick visited the Gale Street Mortuary to enquire if any body, fitting Mr Scholz’s description, had landed up at the morgue. The officer on duty said there had only been one white man of around 30 years old at the mortuary around the time of Scholz’s disappearance.

Neighbours left to deal with vagrants

For Scholz’s neighbours, the abandoned and neglected property has come it its own set of problems, least of which is the vagrants who have moved in. Break-ins have been reported at a number of surrounding properties.

Ursula Martens and her husband, who live in Woodlands Road directly behind Mr Scholz’s house, said vagrants had occupied the property, removed fittings and caused extensive damage to the house.

James Martens, who send an email to the German Embassy to enquire if it had any knowledge of Scholz’s whereabouts, said it had been established that Mr Scholz was not dead, simply not at his property, and that he had been in contact with his bank manager as recent as 26 May 2014.

However, Martens said his safety, security and well-being was being compromised as a result of the abandonment of the property. Another neighbour has taken it upon himself to maintain the property as it had become overgrown and was affecting the values of adjacent properties.

Charmaine Galbraith, the estate agent who sold Mr Scholz the property, and who initially alerted Berea Mail to his disappearance, explained that a person had to be declared dead for five years before something could be done about a property.

“Even the next of kin has no right to the house. Nothing can be done to the house as it’s a crime scene. There are definitely people living there. I’m not sure what the municipality can do. The German Embassy said it would deal with it, and that there was a son and brother in Germany, but you would think they would come to South Africa out of concern for their relative,” she said.

City’s hands are tied

There is little eThekwini Municipality can legally do regarding the property. According to the city’s Head of Communications, Tozi Mthethwa property at Chelmsford is privately owned. “The onus lies with the land wner to protect his/her property or surrender it to council should they find it difficult to maintain and/or protect. The municipality therefore, does not have the power to act in the absence of an official letter, preferably endorsed by a court of law, asking for the city to intervene.”

She said the municipality does however make every attempt to track down the owners whether they are in the country or not.

German Embassy is aware of missing Scholz

The German Embassy confirmed that it was aware of the case. Mr Herbert Kuegel said the Embassy’s Honorary Consul in Durban had informed SAPS with regards to Mr Scholz.

“Until now we have not received any feedback but it could be that the persons who think that Mr Scholz is missing did not file a missing person’s report. To my knowledge Mr Scholz does not have contact with his family [in Germany],” he said.

Background

The 72-year-old eccentric German man was a familiar sight in Glenwood as he walked the roads pulling a trolley laden with groceries behind him. He went missing in January 2014.

Estate agents Charmane Galbraith and Russel Langley were well acquainted with Scholz and reported him missing after Langley noticed rubbish had been thrown into the garden and it was overgrown. The power had also been turned off. In April the two concerned estate agents went to the property and found it had been ransacked. They found a molar tooth and incisors lying on the floor in one of the rooms . and signs of forced entry. In the main bedroom the pair found dried faeces smeared across Mr Scholz’s mattress. His briefcase, money bag and passport were there, along with three unused urine bags. Galbraith opened a missing person’s case with Umbilo SAPS in May 2014.