Cape Town - After two weeks of desperate searching, the Briton who went missing in Cape Town has been found.
Whisky and food blogger Wilkes McDermid, who was on holiday in the Mother City, disappeared just hours before he was to catch a flight back to London on December 26.
That day, he was last picked up by CCTV cameras leaving the Bascule Bar at the Cape Grace Hotel at 7.25pm.
According his friends, McDermid had been fighting depression for a long time.
Fearing the worst, friends in South Africa and the UK took to Twitter and Facebook to urge Capetonians to keep an eye out for the 37-year-old.
“Missing food blogger @wilkes888 in Cape Town. Check all restaurants in the area… please retweet #findwilkes,” tweeted Vanessa Kimbell.
Between January 3 and 7, several sightings of someone resembling McDermid were reported.
A user on Twitter said he might have spotted McDermid at Rosa’s Bakery on Shortmarket Street, but the man claimed he was called “Steven”.
CCTV footage later confirmed McDermid had been at the bakery on January 3.
On Monday night, the Briton’s close friend Bernard Gutman, who persevered despite the lack of progress, reconnected with McDermid.
“Wilkes is safe,” Gutman told the Cape Argus on Monday night. “We found him at the Waterfront and he’s now under medical care.”
Gutman said that McDermid had been trying to remain “incognito” in the Mother City.
McDermid told the Cape Argus he was very grateful for all the support he had received from friends in South Africa and the UK.
“Cape Town is a great city, an exceptionally great city,” he said.
Gutman said he didn’t want to talk publicly about the chain of events that led to McDermid’s not wanting to be discovered and was focusing on his well-being.
“This is only the end of one part of the story, and thankfully he is safe,” said Gutman. “Now the long journey to health begins.”
Cape Argus