A random search and seizure operation on a bungalow in Hangberg, Hout Bay, turned up evidence that altered the course of an ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Nick Frischke.
New evidence surfaces in Nick Frischke disappearance
The 22-year-old German tourist was on holiday in Cape Town when, on Wednesday 15 February 2023, he seemingly dropped off the face of the Earth without a clue left behind — until now.
As reported by the People’s Post, Hout Bay authorities conducted a search operation on a property in Hangberg in the wee hours of Tuesday, 21 February 2023 and among the items recovered, a visa card belonging to a man named Nick Frischke was logged on a page that later surfaced on a community WhatsApp group.
In a statement released at the time, Hout Bay’s community policing forum confirmed that at around 05:00 that morning, two suspects aged 22 and 23, respectively, were taken in for questioning over an unrelated armed robbery. During the search, police also found:
- a half a tablet of mandrax;
- five .38 special rounds;
- a .38 special revolver;
- tools; and
- several cellphones
A concerned local who’d come across Frischke’s name on the logbook immediately contacted the People’s Post on condition of anonymity.
At the time, Hangberg police had no idea that the 22-year-old tourist had been missing for five days.
Here are the latest updates in the search
The last time anyone saw Frischke alive was on Wednesday, 15 February 2023, at the foot of a popular hiking trail in Hangberg. Eerily, the 22-year-old’s last sighting was within close proximity to the scene of the search operation that turned up his visa card.
In a statement, Cape Town police spokesperson Colonel Andre Traut informed the cited publication that despite a multi-disciplinary effort to track down the missing tourist within the wider region of where he was last seen alive, all search efforts have turned up nothing, thus far.
“He remains to be found. Part of this investigation is a full-scale search by the police and other role players where all avenues are pursued in a bid to find the missing person,” Traut said.
The most important question that lingers on in the search for Frischke is: Did he, at any point after he was last captured on CCTV, encounter the two suspects who were caught with live ammunition as well as a revolver?
Also, crucial to the investigation will be ascertaining how the unnamed suspects came to be in possession of Frischke’s visa card.
Both suspects had already appeared in court at the time this article was published. It remains unclear, at this time, if they were remanded in custody.
This is a developing story.
