MBOMBELA – Swiss tourist Mr Nick Wiesmann (76) has now been missing for 24 hours.
Wiesmann and his wife, Bettina, traveled to South Africa for wedding celebrations held in the Lowveld Botanical Gardens yesterday.
September 17, 2016
18:15 – last sight of Wiesmann:
According to Bettina, he walked from the gardens’ public bathroom area, where a marquee tent had been pitched for the wedding, to the couple’s rental car. “He wanted to fetch a jacket, but never returned” she said.
20:00 – Nick had still not returned:
Bossie’s Community Justice (BCJ) was alerted of his disappearance. BCJ, ER24’s Mr Greg Wilcox and various members of the local Off Road Rescue Unit (ORRU) gathered at the scene and launched a search for Wiesmann.
22:00 – Search placed on hold:
After having searched the gardens, the group decided to hold up the search until this morning.
Click here for Lowvelder’s interview with Gryvenstein
September 18, 2016:
06:00 – Search resumed:
BCJ, ER24’s Mr Greg Wilcox and various ORRU members took part in the search at dawn.
10:00 – Aerial search:
The South African Police Services’ (SAPS) chopper was enlisted to assist in trying to locate Wiesmann. However, he could not be seen from the sky. According to BCJ’s Mr Albert Gryvenstein, the nature of the gardens’ vegetation made this task incredibly difficult. “Even if he was lying or sitting under a tree, seeing him would have been virtually impossible as a result of the gardens’ dense vegetation,” he said.
Watch: Aerial footage of the Wiesmann search
12:00 – SAPS Middelburg’s canine unit deployed to the scene:
The unit’s sniffing dogs arrived at the Lowveld Botanical Garden just before 14:00.
16:00 – Still no sign of Wiesmann
Tracking dogs were unable to locate Wiesmann. The search continued for two more hours.
18:00 – Search placed on hold
A larger search team will continue searching for Wiesmann tomorrow. “We plan to perform a line search and have increased our manpower. This will enable us to cover the gardens once more. We will not give up on this search,” said Gryvenstein.
