Mystery as Scots botanist disappears

AS THE search continues for a missing Scots botanist last seen in Vietnam, a Highland Perthshire garden manager last night spoke of the dangers involved in plant-hunting trips.

Julia Corden, of Explorers – The Scottish Plant Hunters Garden, told The Courier of the apparent pitfalls encountered in trips similar to the one undertaken by Jamie-Taggart, who has been missing for five weeks.

Mr Taggart, who is from Cove in Argyll and Bute, failed to return from a plant- hunting trip to the northern mountainous region of Vietnam earlier this month.

Inquiries by his family revealed the 41-year-old had not been seen since November 2, when his rucksack and passport were found at a guest house in the town of Sapa.

Local police and the British embassy in Hanoi were informed of his disappearance and searches of the area have been carried out.

His father, Jim Taggart, found out his son was missing when he failed to appear on a scheduled flight home to Scotland on November 29.

Last night, Ms Corden, who has led botanical tours in Europe, Asia and the Americas, said plant-hunting was “always a very dangerous” job and stressed how she hopes Mr Taggart is found.

“It was a dangerous job 100 years ago and still is today,” she said.

“I was away plant-hunting in Bhutan near the Indian/Chinese border and you end up walking over land which is 6,000 metres high.

“You are often away for four weeks and don’t have any radio control or phones so you can become very isolated.”

Mr Jim Taggart told BBC Radio Scotland his son had sent him a few text messages prior to contact stopping.

“Either something happened to him on his first day on the hills or there is some explanation we can only guess at.

“He was found to be missing because he’d left his rucksack in the guesthouse he was staying in,” he said.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Off ice spokesperson said: “We are aware that a British national was reported missing on October 31 while in the Sapa Mountain area, Vietnam.”

Prayers were said for Mr Taggart at Craigrownie Church on Sunday.

Fs Tiggist.