‘I would lie awake at night wondering where he was’: Mother of missing man opens up after her son’s body is found

 “I am devastated. I couldn’t sleep at night wondering if he was cold or hungry or thirsty.”

 These are the words of an emotional mother from Pretoria after the body of her missing son, Antonie Botha, was found this past weekend at the “God is Groot” rock sign in Amandasig.

“He had hung himself from a tree close to the letters,” Lea Minnaar confirmed telephonically to YOU magazine on Wednesday morning.

 A suicide note – on which he had written his mother’s number – was also found at the scene.

 “But I still don’t know what it says, they (the police) haven’t brought it to me yet.”

Antonie Botha (31) disappeared without a trace at about supper time on 17 May in the Montana area of Pretoria. Only his car and clothing were left behind.

 “The police informed me on Sunday afternoon that they’d found his body. Signs at the scene show that he had already committed suicide on the day of his disappearance.”

 “I am devastated. I couldn’t sleep at night wondering if he was cold or hungry or thirsty.”

 “Yes, he was an attractive man, but unfortunately handsome men can also break.”

 No funeral arrangements have been made as yet.