Missing UK tourist found after trying to go incognito in city for a week, cops say

BRITISH tourist Wilkes McDermid has been found nearly a week after going missing in the city where he had tried to go incognito after skipping his flight home.

Yesterday police spokesman André Traut said he was found in the Cape Town area on Monday night.

“The circumstances of the matter will not be disclosed as it is regarded as private.”

McDermid, 38, a financial services software programmer and food and drinks blogger from Chelsea, was last seen at the V&A Waterfront on December 26, roughly five hours after booking out of his city hotel.

He was meant to have flown to the UK that day, but did not.

Bernard Gutman, a relieved friend of his, issued a statement yesterday saying McDermid was found in Cape Town “where he had been attempting to remain incognito” since Boxing Day.

“We will not speculate publicly about the chain of events that led to Wilkes not wanting to be discovered, or what happened in the interim, between December 26 and now. We would like to note our concern over the current mental well-being of Wilkes,” Gutman said.

He said McDermid’s friends trusted that UK authorities would help Wilkes recover in South Africa and then repatriate him to London.

Gutman said a friend had tried to contact Wilkes on December 27, but became worried as he could not get through to Wilkes who had “an unusually impressive electronic personality and virtual imprint”.

More friends had got involved in trying to find Wilkes, as well as local police and the British consulate.

“What followed was a harrowing collation of images from his friends overseas and hints that pointed to a recent history of mental illness and suggested a real suicide risk, specifically a threat to jump from Table Mountain,” Gutman said.

The search for McDermid had gone viral on Twitter and Facebook. To co-ordinate efforts on Twitter to help find McDermid, the hashtag #findwilkes was created. Yesterday the hashtag #foundwilkes was used.