Two weeks after he disappeared while hiking with his girlfriend, the body of social media influencer Cody Watkins was identified yesterday and he was immediately laid to rest.
The 35-year-old vanished on the Llandudno trail on Friday, 24 September, but was only reported missing three days later when his friends, who spent the weekend looking for him, could not find him.
Cody, from Heideveld, was well known for his lagbol Hardtrance Taxi Driver videos on Facebook, and had 22 000 followers.
It has been revealed that Cody recently embraced Islam and changed his name to Qaeed.
He was buried according to Muslim rites in Heideveld on Thursday.
Mystery surrounds Cody’s disappearance.
On Saturday, 25 September, his girlfriend Stephanie Petersen posted on Facebook: “Please Share! If Cody Watkins The Hardtrance Taxi Driver isn’t lying dead somewhere then yesterday was a set up on my life.
“I can only thank God, the people who helped me and my family that I’m still alive.”
The post further states that she “almost became another statistic of GBV” and that she was fearing for her life.
On 29 September, police found a washed-up body in Hout Bay, but it was not immediately clear if it was Cody, as another man had been reported missing at the same time.
Candice van der Rheede, the chairperson of the Western Cape Missing Person Unit, said: “Four days after he went missing, we got the report from his girlfriend.
“She told us they were hiking and she was too tired to walk further and he walked on.
“She said she waited for him for four hours and then took an Uber home, leaving his mother’s car there as they came with the car.
“She said people coming down from the trail helped her get back to the parking area to get an Uber home.”
Candice confirms that Cody’s badly damaged body was found on 29 September shortly after 11am and airlifted from the water.
“The body had no face, no eyes, and no hair, so the family couldn't do an identification with the face, only via DNA.
“The DNA results came through (yesterday) morning, it was positive.”
She says for now an inquest docket has been opened.
“It's sad for the family but at least now they have closure. “We don't know the circumstances surrounding his death.”
Social media funnyman Devon Saunders expressed sadness at Cody’s death.
“The few times I ran into Cody, he always had a positive vibe.
“... one must acknowledge that he just wanted to make people laugh with his positive attitude and for that, I had huge respect.
“A young man, gone too soon,” he said.
Police spokesperson Caprtain Frederick van Wyk says at this stage, the cause of death is still unknown.
“On Tuesday (28 September), a body was seen on the rocks. The body was then retrieved and DNA testing was done to determine whether it was the mentioned person.
“On Wednesday (5 October) the results became available and confirmed that it was indeed him. An inquest case is currently being investigated by Hout Bay SAPS.”
venecia.america@inl.co.za