SERIAN: A 76-year-old man, reported missing on May 18, was found dead about 3 km from his house in Kampung Kakeng near here yesterday.
The body of the victim, identified by authorities as Denis Nyawod, was found by his nephew.
The family reported that the victim was suffering from dementia.
The nephew continued searching for him after the week-long official search involving the police, Fire and Rescue Department, Civil Defence, People's Volunteer Corps (Rela), and dozens of villagers was called off on May 25 when they could not find any trace of him.
The Fire Department had even deployed their K9 dog, Daisy, in the search.
The victim's nephew, searching by a river known to the locals as Sungai Jeran, first stumbled upon a native basket commonly carried by ethnic farmers or hunters.
He was said to have immediately recognized it as his uncle's. He scoured the area further and found his uncle's parang.
He then rushed back to the village to inform the villagers of his find and requested their help in searching the area for his uncle. When they found the body, they informed the police.
The victim was last seen alive around noon on May 17 and when he failed to return home by 6pm, alarmed family members with the help of villagers mounted a search for him.
They filed a missing person report with the police the next day when they could not find him.
As the search area widened by the day, the search teams eventually were searching an area within a 5km radius from the village.