Ian Alton, the elderly man who went missing in the mountains near Montagu over the weekend, was found in a weak condition after spending two nights and two days without water or food out in the open.
A large-scale search for the 75-year-old was launched after he failed to return to his home in Fisherhaven, after travelling to a farm in the Anysberg area, outside Montagu, on Saturday for work.
It is believed Alton took a wrong turn while driving to Piksteelkuil 10. His Ford Bantam bakkie then got stuck in a sandbank and Alton reportedly wandered off in search of help as there was no cellphone signal in that area.
Lourens Theron, of Afriforum’s Overstrand branch, reported that members of various Afriforum branches, organisations, farm watches, the police, EMS Search and Rescue and staff of Sanbona Wildlife Reserve assisted in the search since Sunday.
“Sanbona Wildlife Reserve assisted with its thermal drone and K9 unit. Kuvo, a dog of the Sanbona K9 unit, was the one who found the missing man.”
Timothy Luff of the George Community Policing Forum, who helped coordinate the search and rescue operation, Alton was found just in time late on Monday, as chances of him surviving another night out in the cold without shelter, nourishment and fluids were very slim.
“The owner of Destiny Farm, known only as Mr van Renen, helped tremendously with the search as he knows the area like the palm of his hand. He was the first one to discover the bakkie’s tracks. The bakkie was later found in a dry riverbed where it had got stuck in the sand. Mr Alton was found at a later stage, approximately 700 m from where the bakkie was found. He had managed to seek shelter from the sweltering sun under a bush, and that’s why he wasn’t detected by the spotter planes.”
He reported that the AMS Skymed airlifted the very weak and badly dehydrated Alton to George Provincial Hospital, where he was treated and kept for observation overnight.
Colonel Nicky Steyn, commander of the Hermanus detectives, confirmed Alton had been reported missing by his son at 19:00 on Sunday 1 December.
“He and his vehicle were found yesterday (Monday 2 December) around 16:45,” he said. “He was alive, but weak, and airlifted by medical chopper to hospital.”