Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Isis-linked city couple missing?
FBI and Scotland Yard investigate Fears burnt body is that of missing Constantia mom
THERE are growing fears that an elderly botanist couple who went missing last week in a remote part of KwaZulu-Natal may have been taken hostage by home- grown militants linked to Isis.
The Hawks are tight-lipped on the circumstances surrounding their hunt for the couple, whose names have not been made public, and the arrest of two suspects in KwaZulu- Natal on charges related to terrorism and abduction.
It is understood blood was found in the back of the white Land Cruiser belonging to the missing couple, who have dual SA/ British citizenship. The vehicle has been taken to the Richards Bay Police Station where it is undergoing intensive forensic investigation.
According to a source close to the investigation, the Hawks are working closely with Scotland Yard and the FBI on the case.
The missing couple were travelling in northern KwaZulu-Natal and were last seen in the Hlobane area on February 12. Their vehicle was seized last Friday at a property in Ngoye, near Mtunzini, where two suspects, Sayfydeen Aslam Del Vecchio, 38, and Fatima Patel, 27, were arrested after police swooped on the remote area.
Mtunzini residents said a helicopter flew overhead and police swarmed into the area.
The police were seen carrying large bags of collected evidence from the house on the property.
Hawks spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha said the suspects appeared in the Vryheid Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of kidnapping, robbery and possible contravention of the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist and Related Activities. Ramovha said they also faced charges of arson for allegedly burning sugar cane fields last year.
Patel was previously arrested during anti- terror raids in Azaadville, Gauteng, in 2016, which also saw the arrests of the Thulsie twins, Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee, for allegedly planning attacks for Isis. The terror organisation has never claimed responsibility for attacks on South African soil. The suspects are expected to appear on March 1 for a formal bail application.
Andrea Benn, a former colleague and long-time Cape Town friend of the missing couple, said it was the husband’s birthday last Thursday. “I sent him a WhatsApp wish- ing him. But I got no reply…”
Warned by police that talking publicly could endanger the lives of her friends, she is reluctant to say any more.
Fellow botanist Jan Vlok from Oudtshoorn, who has known the couple since the 1990s, said they were returning to the Drakensberg in the hope of finding a rare gladiolus that eluded them during three previous visits.
“They are working on a book on gladiolus and for several years they have been searching for it,” said Vlok. “This was the fourth time they went to try and get photos of it.
“It flowers in February and you only find it on a single Drakensberg peak. It takes persistence and you have to be in the right place at the right time.”
A tweet by horticulturalist and award-winning TV presenter Nick Bailey on February 8 revealed one of the last sightings of the couple as well as the last-known photograph of them.
Bailey did not respond to inquiries but his Twitter account reveals that he was plant-hunting and filming in the Drakensberg for the BBC’s Gardener’s World.
“These guys know their South African native plants… and vitally where to find them. They sell an incredible range of seeds online,” he tweeted at the time.
Four days later, the well-respected and popular couple disappeared. “They are exceptionally helpful, kind, knowledgeable, lovely people,” said Cape Town-based botanist Bill Liltved, who was bowled over in 2012 by their generosity.
“I was struggling to find money to publish my monograph on the Cape’s wild orchids,” he said. “They asked for my bank account details and then deposited a very generous sum. Without kind POLICE say it’s too early to say whether the body of a woman discovered in the boot of a burnt car at Diep River station is that of missing Constantia mother Gill Packham.
The 57- year- old administrator at the Springfield Convent School in Wynberg was reported missing on Thursday afternoon and the burning vehicle was discovered that night.
Yesterday, social media was rife with speculation that the body found in the car was that of Packham.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant- Colonel Andre Traut said the SAPS could confirm Packham had been reported missing by a relative at the Diep River police station late on Thursday afternoon.
“Mrs Packham was last seen leaving her Constantia residence yesterday morning in her green BMW sedan.
“This office can also confirm that a burning BMW vehicle was discovered at the Diep River railway station last night.
“After the fire was extinguished, the burnt body of a female was found in the boot of the vehicle,” Traut said.
Yesterday, police cordoned off the Packham family’s home in The Vines, near Constantia.
The patch of grass where the gutted car was found near the Diep River station was still smouldering when Weekend Argus visited the scene yesterday afternoon.
Springfield Convent School’s PR and marketing spokesperson Penny Boock said the school had been asked by the Packham family not to provide information to the media “out of respect for the family”.
Boock confirmed Packham had been employed as an administrator at the school.
She declined to say whether Packham had arrived for work on Thursday morning.
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Pink Ladies, which helps search for missing people, said in a Facebook post: “Gill Packham left home in Constantia at approx 07H00 yesterday morning (Thursday) to go to work at Springfield High School but did not arrive.
“It is not known what she is wearing. She was driving a dark green BMW 3 series”.
Packham’s husband Rob Packham and daughters Nicola and Kerry Anne could not be contacted yesterday and neighbours declined to discuss Packham’s disappearance.
railway station’
assistance from them and others it never would have happened. They helped me realise a passion and a dream.”
Liltved said he was battling to wrap his head around the kidnapping and the rumoured political motivation.
“The news is horrendous. It’s a terrible shock that they out there unaccounted for. They are humble botanists. They’re seed collectors who run a seed business. I can’t imagine that they have any value to any political group.
“They didn’t strike me as political people at all. They have the interests of all people at heart. They always struck me as being very open-minded and respectful to anyone who crossed their path. They came across as pacifist, salt-of-theearth types.”
Vogelgat Nature Reserve warden Giorgio Lombardi echoed these sentiments. “They’re gentle, generous people,” he said. “They donated Bill Liltved’s orchid book, which is worth about R4 000, to the reserve.”
“They are really devoted to their profession and walk humbly on the earth. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to harm them.”
The British High Commission said it was working closely with the South African authorities following the kidnap of two South African/ British dual nationals and had offered consular support to the family.
“As there is an ongoing investigation we cannot comment further.”
“We have updated our travel advice to include this recent incident. The safety of British nationals is our top priority.
“We keep our travel advice for all countries under constant review. We update it as quickly as possible if we’re aware of an incident that might significantly affect Britons travelling or living in the area.”