– the American national was reported missing by the US Embassy
– his body was later found decomposed inside the Maun Educational Park
– police yet to establish how he entered the closed park & the cause of his death
– the tourist had reportedly missed two flights back home
The mystery death of a 39-year-old American male citizen whose body was found decomposed inside the Maun Educational Park recently has left the Maun community in shock.
Questions are being asked about how and why the deceased, who reportedly came into the country as a tourist gained entrance into the park whose entrance is prohibited, and how he finally met his death.
District No.5 Officer Commanding Senior Superintendent Onious Madziba confirmed that the tourist was found on the 6th of March after he was reported missing on the same day. The tourist was reported missing by the American Embassy who then alerted the police in Maun.
Madziba revealed that the embassy was alerted by the deceased’s family who indicated that the 39-year-old had previously sent them a text message informing them that he was in a Zoo.
The police boss indicated that their trace then led them to the park where the deceased was then found dead. “We are yet to establish how the deceased managed to enter the park since it does not have any open entrances as the gates are locked and the park is currently out of use,” Madziba noted.
According to Madziba, the deceased did not have any of his belongings and valuables including his cell phone which he used to text his family about his whereabouts. He indicated that the deceased had told his family that his passport got stolen though he did not go into details on how and where it was stolen.
He noted that the police are yet to establish who the deceased came with from the US and which places he had visited last before entering the park. He said though it is not clear about the times of where and when the deceased was last seen, their ongoing investigations have revealed that he was once seen by the Maun public library.
Superintendent Madziba reserved police suspicions to what might be the cause of the death as he said police investigations are still at an initial stage to make conclusion. The deceased’s body has since been identified by his family and it is currently lying at Letsholathebe II Memorial Hospital mortuary awaiting repatriation arrangements by his family.
Superintendent Madziba has since called on the public to inform the police on any information they have or anyone they saw entering or leaving the educational park recently.
Meanwhile the US Embassy in Botswana has only confirmed the incident but declined to share further details as to what could have happened.
The Embassy Information specialist Ephraim Kooreng told this publication that the embassy is closely monitoring local authorities’ investigation into the American citizen’s cause of death.
“We can confirm the death of a US citizen in Botswana. We are closely monitoring local authorities’ investigation into the cause of death. Out of respect for the privacy of the family, we have no further comment at this time,” he said.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports allege that the deceased has been in Botswana since last year November, where he was later in December offered accommodation free of charge by a certain man who owns a guest house in Boseja after losing all his money and passport.
Reports are that the deceased spent most of his time in his room during his stay at the guest house and has even missed two flights back home which were arranged for him. It is said that after missing his second flight the deceased then left the guest house unnoticed and since then no one knew he was staying only for him to be seen frequenting the library almost daily where he was seen reading books while surfing the internet.
