Mystery over SA man missing in London
12 March 2010, 07:15
By Bronwyn Gerretsen
A Durban man living in the UK has "vanished" from his home under mysterious circumstances, leading to frantic searches by his friends to find him.
Formerly from South Beach in Durban, Donavan van Lill, 29, has been missing for more than a week. UK police say he "disappeared off the face of the earth" and friends fear for his safety.
Van Lill, who has been living in Wiltshire, west of London, for four years, plays rugby for the Corsham Rugby Football Club and has a six-year-old daughter, Courtney, in the UK, and a young son, Keanu, in South Africa.
His mother, who lives and works in Durban, was only informed of her son's disappearance by one of his friends living in Durban, Jason Davies, yesterday.
She was reluctant to speak to the media until she had more details about his disappearance.
Van Lill works as a fitness instructor at The Olympiad Leisure Centre in Chippenham, but did not arrive at work on Tuesday last week.
His employers, who have said he was "most reliable", reported him missing two days later.
Sergeant John Rogers, of the Wiltshire police, told The Mercury yesterday that he was reviewing the circumstances surrounding Van Lill's disappearance.
"At the moment it's a bit of a mystery in that his car remains in the driveway and none of his possessions, like wallet or passport, were gone. At the moment it appears that he has just disappeared off the face of the earth."
Rogers said police had "no indication or reason" to believe that something "bad" had happened to Van Lill, but added that the circumstances under which he had disappeared were "unusual".
According to a Facebook page dedicated to finding him - and which had more than 6 000 members by yesterday afternoon - Van Lill's housemate returned home to find his laptop open and logged on to Facebook, but there was no trace of him.
A friend quoted in local newspaper said the only things missing were his gym bag, Springbok fleece jacket and driving licence.
A Durban man living in the UK has "vanished" from his home under mysterious circumstances, leading to frantic searches by his friends to find him.
Formerly from South Beach in Durban, Donavan van Lill, 29, has been missing for more than a week. UK police say he "disappeared off the face of the earth" and friends fear for his safety.
Van Lill, who has been living in Wiltshire, west of London, for four years, plays rugby for the Corsham Rugby Football Club and has a six-year-old daughter, Courtney, in the UK, and a young son, Keanu, in South Africa.
His mother, who lives and works in Durban, was only informed of her son's disappearance by one of his friends living in Durban, Jason Davies, yesterday.
She was reluctant to speak to the media until she had more details about his disappearance.
Van Lill works as a fitness instructor at The Olympiad Leisure Centre in Chippenham, but did not arrive at work on Tuesday last week.
His employers, who have said he was "most reliable", reported him missing two days later.
Sergeant John Rogers, of the Wiltshire police, told The Mercury yesterday that he was reviewing the circumstances surrounding Van Lill's disappearance.
"At the moment it's a bit of a mystery in that his car remains in the driveway and none of his possessions, like wallet or passport, were gone. At the moment it appears that he has just disappeared off the face of the earth."
Rogers said police had "no indication or reason" to believe that something "bad" had happened to Van Lill, but added that the circumstances under which he had disappeared were "unusual".
According to a Facebook page dedicated to finding him - and which had more than 6 000 members by yesterday afternoon - Van Lill's housemate returned home to find his laptop open and logged on to Facebook, but there was no trace of him.
A friend quoted in local newspaper said the only things missing were his gym bag, Springbok fleece jacket and driving licence.
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Mercury on March 12, 2010
Pretoria
