The family and friends of 26-year-old Vaughan Hodgkinson are desperately seeking answers about the night when the young man was allegedly knocked over by a vehicle near the Merrivale off-ramp. Vaughan grew up in Estcourt and was currently living in Mooi River.

According to a friend, Carryn-Jade Lello, Vaughan visited his family and friends in Estcourt on Saturday, April 25. On Sunday he decided to go out to a bar near Howick with friends. It was here that Carryn-Jade says a fight broke out and Vaughan indicated to his friends that he wanted to leave.

After the group of friends were on the road at about 11pm, they realised that someone had been left at the bar and intended on returning but Vaughan indicated that he would wait under a tree until they returned. “When the friends came back, they could not find him anywhere. They said that they drove around looking before going home. We were told that he was struck by a car on the Merrivale off-ramp at about midnight,” said Carryn-Jade.

Vaughan reportedly suffered massive brain damage and was taken to Grey’s Hospital in Pietermaritzburg where he was placed on Advanced Life Support before being moved to Life Support and then a general ward. “When the police officers went to interview him at 10am on Monday, they were informed that he had passed away. Because he did not have any identification on him, a photo of his tattoos was circulated and I was asked to identify his body on Tuesday,” commented Carryn-Jade.

She said that since the tragedy, there were several unanswered questions, which the family was grappling with. “We want to get hold of the people who was with to find out exactly what happened on that night. His feet were also very dirty and had injuries, he did not have his shoes on, so maybe he was being mugged and was running away from someone. The family is awaiting the autopsy results at the moment,” concluded Carryn-Jade.

Vaughan’s funeral will be held on Saturday, May 9 at the New Apostolic Church at 10am.