Brit missing during gap year in Australia ‘found'

Posted 15 Jul 2009

 A 19-year-old Brit on a gap year in Australia has been found alive after going missing for 12 days, it has been reported.

Jamie Neale, who planned to start his gap year in Australia before heading to south-east Asia, was staying at a hostel Katoomba, New South Wales, when he told staff he was heading off for a short walk in the Blue Mountains.

However, the teenager became lost for almost two weeks and described how he had to eat plants and weeds to stay alive.

His father Richard Cass, who flew out to the country to help with the 400 person-strong search, said: "He must be the only teenager in the world who goes out for a walk and leaves his mobile phone behind."

New South Wales is the most populated part of Australia and is located in the south-east of the country. It is also home to Sydney and the Snowy Mountains.

Aydan Savaskan, 20, was due to return from Kenya last week after spending six months on the continent working and travelling.

But his worried parents have not heard from him since early last month when he is thought to have been in Benin in west Africa.

Scotland Yard has appealed for information about the missing man who is due to start university in September.

His father Sinan, of Herne Hill, said it was out of character for Mr Savaskan to go missing.

Mr Savaskan had been working at an orphanage in Nairobi organised by the Global Volunteer Network before leaving the programme to go travelling with friends.

His father said: "They seem to know that he spent a short time in Ethiopia and then he appeared in Togo. The last place anybody heard from him was in Benin at the beginning of February. He did not say why he travelled there.

"It is a mystery to us all. He said he was having a good time and there is no depression in his correspondence to friends.

"He is a sensible, careful guy. He is well read and interested in things and it is out of character for him to go missing like this."

Dozens of pictures of Mr Savaskan in Africa have been posted on the social networking site, Facebook.

Many messages from worried friends and family members urging him to get in touch have also appeared online.

Nezih Savaskan wrote: "Aydan... can you contact us please...? As soon as!! We haven't heard from you in too long, and we cannot get through to your phone!!"

Michelle Mettey wrote: "Aydan!!!! where are you silly?? I'm worried about you write to meee kissses!!!!"

Sinan Savaskan said several friends of the family were looking for his son in Africa.

He added that Mr Savaskan was intelligent, streetwise and fit. "He is a London boy, he knows his way around places. He travelled across London all his life on his own. He is not unfamiliar with big cities and strange corners of places. He is quite a strongly built guy. He can look after himself.

"He went to work for a volunteer organisation in Nairobi. He was building schools and helping with teaching in an orphanage."

The Metropolitan Police said Mr Savaskan may be in Africa, continental Europe or even back in Britain.

A spokesman said: "We are growing increasingly concerned for Aydan and investigations into his disappearance suggest he may have been travelling across Africa and beyond, perhaps passing-through countries including Kenya, Ethiopia and Togo across to Benin.

"His last known email correspondence on 3 February said he was staying in Benin, west Africa. There is nothing to suggest he is a fantasist with regards to the 3,000-mile journey he claimed in correspondence to have travelled.

"Aydan's family say that it is not in character for him to not stay in touch. We do not know where he is now and any information would be treated in confidence."

The New Zealand-based Global Volunteer Network was not able to shed light on Mr Savaskan's whereabouts.

 
Title – Drugging Danger on Indian Trains
Source – Sunday Times
Date – 31st May 2009

That the Indian police are warning travellers about the risks of ‘spiked’ food and drink on Indian trains, means that people should really be paying attention…

Drugged food and drink on trains in many parts of the world has been an increasingly common problem, especially on the Indian Sub-continent. This warning seems to be directed at female travellers and although they should be taking as much care as anyone, the implication given is not entirely correct.

By suggesting that women in particular should be wary of drugged food, the natural conclusion is that the reason for the ‘spiking’ is to enable the perpetrator to sexually assault the victim. Although sexual assault or drug assisted rape is certainly one possible motive and is still predominantly directed at women, the use of drugs to disable a victim is probably used more as a way of incapacitating a person in order to facilitate theft or robbery.

In the case of theft, the threat is clearly directed at male and female travellers, so I wanted to extend the warning given by the Indian police to all travellers. Be careful when offered hospitality by strangers, especially on trains in India where these ‘scams’ are known to happen. The consequences of being ‘spiked’ can be much more serious than simply being robbed, apart from the potential of sexual assault the effects of the drugs themselves can have serious consequences to health.