The discovery of an unidentified body in Middelburg has sparked countrywide enquiries from people searching for missing loved ones.

News of the body’s discovery at Tarries Cycling Park was published on the Middelburg Observer website over the weekend.

Several people have since visited or called the newspaper for more information about the deceased, fearing it might be their family member who was found.

One such family is that of Gysbert van der Merwe, who was last seen by them in 2023 when he left KZN for work in Cape Town.

Van der Merwe ended up in Brakpan, Gauteng, and had sporadic contact with his family.

They last spoke to him in April.

The deceased has a tattoo and scars, that the family feared matched that of Van der Merwe, prompting a family member to contact the newspaper for more information after failing to make contact with Van der Merwe.

The body turned out not to be that of Van der Merwe, with the deceased having a heart-shaped tattoo on his left shoulder while Van der Merwe has a similar tattoo on his right shoulder.

The Middelburg Observer reliably learnt that a family from eMalahleni possibly linked to the deceased man, has visited the mortuary and a formal identification may soon be made.

The deceased had no ID, and the family must prove his identity before the formal identification can be made.

*This article has been amended.