The family of missing German tourist Nick Frischke, who vanished a year ago after being robbed by five armed men on a Cape Town hiking trail, are still praying for a miracle.
“A year ago intensive contact with my Nick was broken off. For 52 weeks my thoughts have been with my son ... I miss his conversations and messages,” Jana Frischke wrote in a post on Facebook.
Frischke, 22, was on holiday in South Africa when he went missing on February 15 last year on the Hangberg hiking trail in Hout Bay. Extensive searches by police, rescue services, volunteers and the local community — in addition to tip-offs from the public — failed to yield any positive leads on his whereabouts.
“For us, this uncertainty is unbearable, not knowing what happened to him exactly a year ago. It’s been a very stressful year, and we hope that we can take Nick into our arms again,” his father André Hallwas told TimesLIVE Premium on Thursday.
Jana wrote that Nick had wanted to get to know Africa, its wildlife and was thrilled after spending a week in Cape Town. “Unfortunately, there is also this crime, which made our lives completely difficult last year and took a lot of energy, but we continue to hope and pray for a miracle for Nick’s life.”
If Nick was allowed to live, I really hope he got help.
— Mom Jana Frischke
Frischke, aged 22 when he went missing, was a keen athlete, took climbing courses and regularly participated in running events. Before he disappeared he departed from his accommodation in Pinelands and made a shopping stop at the V&A Waterfront. CCTV footage later showed him setting off on the hiking trail.
Melanie Porter, who ran the Airbnb where Nick stayed, previously told TimesLIVE he was a keen hiker and appeared to have “fallen in love” with Table Mountain. “It seemed like he had photographed it from almost every angle.”
She added that he had planned to go surfing in the week he disappeared and communicated “every single evening” with his mother.
Ighsaan Fisher, Jason Adonis, Melvin Geunantin, Petersen van Roy and Carlo Geunantin are the five accused of robbing Nick on the trail after his cellphone, backpack and credit card were found in their possession.
Geunantin was out on parole at the time of the incident after being sentenced in 2018 to eight years’ imprisonment for attempted murder, four of which were suspended for five years.
The suspects were linked to his disappearance after another local robbery victim spotted Nick’s bank card among recovered stolen property.
National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the accused faced charges related to performing acts aimed at bringing about a pattern of criminal activity, four counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, housebreaking, three counts of illegal possession of firearms and a count of illegal possession of ammunition.
“If Nick was allowed to live, I really hope he got help,” wrote Jana.
The case has been postponed to February 22 for pretrial.
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