The mystery unfolds

Charlotte and Chris Nikoi and their daughter Kochoe want to visit Robben Island but can only get one ferry ticket. They decide to hike up Table Mountain instead.

They take a taxi from the V&A Waterfront, where they leave their rental car, to the base of the Platteklip Gorge hiking route.

They start hiking: Charlotte soon tells them to go ahead and she will follow.

Charlotte decides to go down and wait for Chris and Kochoe at the bottom. Chris sends her an SMS encouraging her to come up instead and catch the cable car down.

Chris’s phone pings and he and his daughter check the message, which is incomplete. They try in vain to call Charlotte.

Kochoe leaves for Johannesburg. Chris follows later. He lands in Johannesburg and, after repeated attempts, still cannot find Charlotte. He reports her missing.

Rangers on patrol search the mountain for her.

Chris flies back to Cape Town and an SA Red Cross Air Mercy Service helicopter searches for Charlotte. Chris speaks to the police and searches hospitals.

Chris flies to Johannesburg to fetch his daughter. Wilderness Search and Rescue begins searching. The Pink Ladies, an NGO dedicated to tracing missing children and adults, raises awareness of Charlotte’s disappearance online and launches a drone to look for her.

Chris and Kochoe fly to Cape Town. Chris bases himself in the city to search for his wife.

Chris takes Kochoe to New York then returns to Cape Town.

Chris visits his daughter in New York, returning to Cape Town last weekend.