Missing student - fears of drugs link
2011-08-01 22:15
Cape Town - In Pretoria, kidnappings have become sort of a trend by criminals as a means to obtain money through ransoms, the founder of eblockwatch said on Monday.
Andre Snyman was commenting on reports of abductions in the city, and specifically the case of Duncan Allan, a missing Pretoria University student.
According to Snyman, police are searching the flats of a Nigerian who held a man for R 3 000 ransom on Sunday night, hoping to find possible links that could lead them to Allan, who has been missing since July 18.
"We think that Duncan might have been taken by some people and held captive somewhere. We don't know why they would do this.
"Many people are manipulated by drug dealers (who they owe money), and their friends are then held by the dealers, who promise to hurt them, in order to get the money owed to them," said Snyman, adding that this might be the case with Duncan because many of his friends admitted to using recreational drugs.
No leads
Snyman said that they have no leads on Duncan's whereabouts at the moment, but he added that they have received pictures of vehicles similar to that of Duncan, but they turned out to be the wrong ones.
In a YouTube video, family members outline the distinctive features of the car Duncan was last seen driving, hoping this will aid in someone spotting the vehicle.
Psychics
Two psychics have also been involved in the case, said Snyman, and they have pointed out several places where Duncan could be found, or leads to his whereabouts.
"One man who has been visiting the locations suggested by one of the psychics, found a piece of a guitar lying in a park pointed out by one of the psychics," said Snyman, adding that the value of this piece is worth more than R 600.
Duncan was also known as a guitar player and Snyman will visit his family later on Monday, to find out if the missing piece has any connection belong to Duncan.
