Private investigator steps in to find missing Knysna businessman

A private investigator has been hired to track down the well-known Knysna businessman who has been missing for nine days.

Pretoria private investigator and security specialist Mike Bolhuis has been roped in by the family to assist police in trying to locate Egbertus "Bert" Scheepers, 65.

Scheepers, has been missing since May 9 and police have been scouring the area in search of him after it was reported the following day.

Mystery surrounds his disappearance. CCTV shows him entering the Thesen Island area but not leaving. All his belongings are at the house, including his cellphone, wallet and car.

Bolhuis said he was flying a missing persons specialist investigator to Knysna to start gathering information.

“We are looking into all avenues and angles. Our team have hi-tech equipment and various experts who are going to be assisting,” he said

“We will be working with all authorities and people to get information. We are asking for anyone who knows anything to come forward.

"I suspect he is in the area but we will be looking into all possibilities to determine what exactly has happened."

Scheepers’s daughter Lisa, who lives in Gauteng, has since flown to the coastal town. 

In addition to searches by residents and neighbourhood watches, police divers have also been searching the lagoon - which borders his house - and have since come up with nothing.

None of Scheepers's vehicles – all 120 of them – are missing and the car he was driving on the day of his disappearance, a Mercedes-Benz, was still parked at his house.

Scheepers, an avid car collector and dealer, owns the House of Classic and Sports Cars in Knysna's Main Road.

Southern Cape police spokesperson Captain Malcolm Pojie urged anyone with information to contact Captain Carolus Heyser on 082-778-7241 or Bolhuis on 082-447-6116.

This is the second mysterious disappearance in the town since 2018.

In April 2018, Norwegian student Marie Saether Ostbo, 21, disappeared in the Knysna area while on holiday.

All leads were followed up and the Norwegian police's serious crimes unit flew to SA to assist with the probe.

Marie had been studying in France and arrived in Sedgefield with a group of international student tourists on April 18.

She was last seen that same evening‚ on the beach near the backpacker lodge where the group was staying.

Her cellphone‚ hat and shoes were found close to where she was last seen, but to date she remains missing.