Cape Town: The family of Andrew Hess, who has been missing for 12 years, has not given up hope and .
The family opened the Facebook page ”Help Find Andrew Hess soon after he mysteriously vanished in 2010.
This year, the case was referred to the organisation, Track n Trace, which assists families who have missing relatives, even cold cases.
To date there have been no fresh leads on Hess.
According to a statement issued by Hess’ family, he disappeared on December 20, 2010 after he was found wandering on a farm in Jacobsdal and was mistaken for a thief.
Hess was taken to the police station where he was later released after being questioned.
It is believed Hess had hitch-hiked a ride on a truck, possibly to Mossel Bay.
He has been reportedly spotted in parts of Kimberly, but this could not be confirmed.
“The police released him after questioning when he said he was from the ‘Baai’. The police took him to a Modder Rivier petrol station where there are usually a lot of trucks. He apparently said he wanted to hike with the trucks. It could be that the people in that area thought the ‘Baai’ was Mosselbaai,” The family said in a statement.
“At that stage the case was handled by a Warrant Officer Malgas from the Jacobsdal police station. At the time of his disappearance, he was wearing white “takkies”, black Levi jeans with a white and grey long-sleeve T-shirt.
“He has two dolphin tattoos on his back, on his chest is a tattoo of the head of a tiger with a big burn mark under his left arm that stretches to his back.
“The latest information is that someone spotted a person with the description of Andrew in a tavern in Barkley Road, Kimberley. The person could not remember his name or where he came from, but when the aunt of Andrew’s wife was called, the person had disappeared.”
Elaine Soul of Track n Trace said there was no new information on the case and that they were awaiting a mandate from the family to begin an investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to call one of the following numbers: David Hess: 73 9760 944, John Hess: 084 24587 162, Ricardo Hess: 078 7260 801 or Zinnefred Hess, his wife from Uitenhage: 076 0213 181