MBOMBELA – The body of 76-year-old Mr Nick Wiesmann was found at 17:00 today.
“This was confirmed minutes from the exact time that he was last seen a week ago,” said Bossie’s Community Justice’s Mr Albert Gryvenstein.
Repeated searches for the missing Swiss were launched in the last week.
It was today’s aerial search (see more below) that led to his body being found.
“Mr Wiesmann’s body was found in a rocky patch in the river. His position correlated with our presumption made after we tracked footsteps in a dirt road leading out of the gardens. These footsteps indicated that Mr Wiesmann walked towards the Crocodile River outside the boundaries of the gardens,” said Gryvenstein.
Read more about the tracking of Mr Wiesmann’s footsteps here.
Police spokesman Capt Dawie Pretorius confirmed that Wiesmann’s family had been notified of his death.
The station commander of Nelspruit police station, Brig Gerrie Agenbag, was on the scene. He thanked investigating officer Lt Col Erhard Ströh, Bossie’s Community Justice’s Gryvenstein and WO Danie Theron for their endless devotion that led to the body being found.
They had previously promised that they would not stop searching until Wiesmann was found.
Thanks was also extended to the other parties involved in the search for Mr Wiesmann.
Lowvelder previously reported:
WEEK ONE VIDEO UPDATE: Search for Swiss back on
MBOMBELA – A police chopper has embarked on another aerial search for Mr Nick Wiesmann.
According to Bossie’s Community Justice’s Mr Albert Gryvenstein, the purpose of today’s aerial search was to fly along the Crocodile River. The river runs through the Lowveld Botanical Gardens where Wiesmann was last seen a week ago.
“We can follow the river for some distance using the chopper and may find a trace of Mr Wiesmann along the river,” he hoped.
At 13:oo, Lowvelder reported:
MBOMBELA – Another search for missing Swiss citizen Mr Nick Wiesmann (76) was launched in the Lowveld Botanical Gardens at 13:00 today (Saturday, September 24, 2016).
Today marks a week since he mysteriously disappeared while attending a wedding in the gardens.
Read more on his disappearance here.
Although the search for Wiesmann was called off yesterday, the police’s Lt Col Erhard Ströh requested that the gardens be carefully scoped again today. Ströh, the investigating officer in this case, felt that another search of the gardens will contribute towards the thoroughness of his investigation.
“Today, we will search the gardens thoroughly once more and focus on key spots that have been identified,” he said. Searchers have acknowledged that every passing day brings with it a greater possibility that Wiesmann may not be found alive.
The boundaries of the search area have been shifted to include the area around the gardens as well as stretches of the Crocodile River.
Although the search has been focused on the gardens, the possibility that he may have left the terrain has been acknowledged. Community members have been circulating Wiesmann’s photo far and wide, asking residents to report any sight of the man.
The police have scoped the streets of various towns in the province.
Meanwhile, Nick’s children Daniel and Nicolette have travelled to South Africa to support their mother, Bettina, who has remained in the city since her husband’s disappearance.
