Scant hope of finding hiker alive
HOPES of finding a hiker alive after he went missing at the weekend were dwindling as the search enters its fifth day.
Jayde Douman was last seen on Saturday when he went for a hike on the Bain’s Kloof Pass.
Wilderness Search and Rescue (WSAR) spokesperson Johanna Marais said the search would not go on last night for safety reasons as “we cannot consider it (the search) that urgent”.
“When we started out we searched in the night, because there was hope of life… He could be found alive, I won’t exclude that. We have been there the whole of Tuesday and Wednesday and we will be there again tomorrow.”
Marais said the last contact Douman made was with his family, when he called on Sunday asking to be collected. He wasn’t at the spot where he said he would be waiting.
Marais said it was likely Douman’s phone battery had died or he was out of range as no one had been able to reach him since.
“It was reported that he had adequate and proper clothing and he had food and vegetables. How much and what would still be left we cannot say. There was a time we followed a trail and found a potato, but it was found to be old so we had to rule it out.”
WSAR is being assisted by rangers from CapeNature and members of Working on Fire. A Skymed helicopter was also being deployed.