JOHOR BARU: "I just couldn't find him," said a mournful Muhammad Haziq Ramli, 34, who had searched the entire city for his engineer brother found dead in a decomposed state yesterday, in his car.
Haziq is the elder brother of site engineer Muhammad Hamizan, 33, who was found dead in his car at a parking lot in Taman Pelangi, Johor Baru.
"I went around Johor Baru several times looking for my brother after reporting his disappearance to the police, but I just couldn't find him," Haziq said.
He said that he and his family have come to terms with the loss of their brother, but they are saddened by the fact that his body was found already decomposing.
"Our parents have accepted this as fate but are still in shock. My father, who has a heart disease, didn't sleep all night after receiving the news because my brother was found so late," he said.
"I feel disappointed too; cases of missing persons should be taken more seriously. If he had been found earlier, even if deceased, his body might have been in better condition."
Haziq added that his brother had gone to work as usual before being unreachable.
During the three-week period since his brother's disappearance on May 19, he tried to trace him by searching around Bandar Penawar and Johor Baru.
"I was told that my brother had acquaintances in Johor Baru, but I'm not sure who he met on that Saturday night," he said.
"As far as I know, he had no chronic illnesses, and given his profession as a site engineer, he needed to be healthy to be on site frequently.
"He also had no financial problems and, to our knowledge, had never taken loans from unlicensed moneylenders. If he had any loans, they were from legitimate entities like banks.
"He was a good person, had no issues with the family, and was easily reachable before his disappearance," Haziq added.
Hamizan was laid to rest at the Kampung Batu 4 Muslim Cemetery in Kota Tinggi last night.
The mystery of Hamizan's disappearance was solved yesterday when he was found dead in his car in Taman Pelangi, Johor Baru.
South Johor Baru police chief Assistant Commissioner Raub Selamat was quoted saying the victim's body was discovered around 11am yesterday in a decomposed state.
On May 28 it was reported that Hamizan's older brother was seeking public assistance to notify the police if they had any information regarding his brother's disappearance along with his red Saga FLX car since May 19.
