Like many South Africans, John Bothma saw teaching in Vietnam as an opportunity to travel and experience new things.

He kept in regular contact with his family back home, until May 18, when he suddenly vanished.

While a number of people have claimed to see him in Vietnam, nothing has been confirmed, with other sightings proven to be false, and his whereabouts are still unknown.

News24 spoke to Bothma’s aunt about the events leading up to his disappearance.

His aunt, Santjie Dixon, who raised him from the age of four, told News24 he decided to travel because he “needed a change”.

“I have never seen him so happy,” she said from her Roodepoort home where he lived.

The two were very close. She always looked forward to his daily video calls, a chance for her to share in his overseas experience.

“It is quite a shock for us. We are very worried because I last spoke to him around 12 in the afternoon in Vietnam on Saturday, May 18,” she said.

Bothma tried to call his aunt on the day that he went missing, but she missed the calls. In an attempt to find him, his girlfriend Judy Kurash started a Facebook page, ‘Find John Bothma‘.

Photos of a man who had been involved in an accident in Vietnam started circulating on social media, with many convinced that it was Bothma.

Kurash confirmed with Vietnamese authorities that it was not him. People have now taken to arguing with her and demanding proof, which prompted her to release the following statement on the page:

The image shows a Dutch man who was injured in a mudslide, with Kurash saying that the man pictured did not have tattoos matching John’s.

Bothma’s phone has been inactive since he went missing. Kurash last heard from him on May 17.

“He stayed that one night at Saigon Hub Hostel, [which] gave us a lot of information and said he was in good health when he left Saturday morning,” she said.

“They said he left the hostel the night before with a middle-aged Vietnamese woman and returned around midnight. Nobody has any idea who she might be.”

They had reported his disappearance to all the relevant authorities and asked that they check with hospitals, prisons, borders and customs.

His missing poster is also being distributed in Vietnam:

We’ll keep you updated.

[source:news24]