Durban teacher turns down R50k reward after finding missing pilot
· The South African
A Durban teacher turned down a R50 000 reward for helping to find missing pilot Slade Thomas on Monday, 7 September, after his disappearance over the weekend.
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The woman claimed the discovery was down to divine intervention.
DURBAN TEACHER SAYS NO TO R50K REWARD
Speaking to Northglen News, Lezé van der Walt, a teacher at Northlands Primary School, shared how she tracked down missing pilot, Slade Thomas, on Monday morning.
She shared: “I had my five-year-old son with me, and that morning I had asked God to guide me and take me to find this man (Slade Thomas). I don’t always take Norrie Avenue on my route to school but [that] morning I did. It was like the holy spirit stopped me as I rounded the bend in the road.
“I saw a man fairly hidden, sitting in the bushes with his legs crossed. He matched the description I had seen on the missing poster on social media. I stopped next to the road and asked him what his name was. Initially, he gave me a false name but I think he wanted to be left alone. I then called the number listed for the people looking for him. I was so happy when they arrived to help reunite him,” she said.
The mother-of-one shared that divine intervention had led her to find Thomas, and as a result, turned down a R50 000 reward offered by his family.
The God-fearing woman is not the only one who turned down the cash. According to PI Brad Nathanson Investigations, a host of Durban volunteers, as well as emergency services, worked tirelessly together to look for the missing man.
MISSING PILOT’S MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
In the past few years, Slade Thomas, a former Durban helicopter pilot in the South African Air Force (SAAF), had suffered from significant memory loss.
Family spokesperson Greg Parry told the media that said Thomas had also been living with mental illness and depression
Parry stated that Thomas’s disappearance was out of character, which had sparked concerns for his safety and well-being.
He told The Witness: “We are profoundly grateful to the many people, community members and security teams who have given up hours of their time to search for Slade and support our family.
“Their kindness, compassion and determination have meant more to us than we can express”.