Friend thinks disappearance after crossing from Hong Kong to Shenzhen could be tied to looming HK$9 million property windfall in mainland China
NIALL.FRASER@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Thursday, 07 April, 2016, 11:39pm
British national Hilary Bower is a permanent resident of Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Friends and family of a British teacher who “vanished” after he crossed the border from Hong Kong to Shenzhen more than two weeks ago fear his disappearance could be tied to a HK$9 million windfall he was expecting for the sale of a mainland property.
The disappearance of Hilary St John Bower, 60, has sparked a global law enforcement alert after his brother contacted police in the United Kingdom who in turn were understood to have gone through the international police organisation, Interpol, in a bid to get information from the mainland’s Public Security Bureau.
Last night Richard Charles, a friend and colleague of Bower’s – who has lived in Shenzhen for most of the more than two decades he has worked in Hong Kong – expressed worry.
“Anyone who knows Hilary knows he is a pretty disorganised guy, but he was on his way to see his son. There was no reason for him to disappear.
“I do know that after buying at the bottom of the property market a good few years ago, he was expecting to be paid somewhere in the region of HK$9 million for a property he just sold in Shekou,” he added.
Charles said concern arose in light of the “complicated” property deal and that his disappearance might be connected.
He added he and members of Bower’s family were unhappy with the lack of action by police on both sides of the border. The missing man’s UK-based younger brother Robin had contacted police in the UK, he said.
The British consulate in Hong Kong, located in Admiralty, was said to be working on the case. Photo: Anthony Dickson
A spokesman for Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London said it was engaged in the matter. “We are providing assistance to the family of a British national reported missing in southern China,” he said. “We are in contact with local authorities in Hong Kong and Guangzhou.”
British diplomats in Hong Kong and Guangzhou were said to be working on the case.
Bower, a Hong Kong resident and British national, disappeared after crossing the Lo Wu border on March 22. He was on his way to his home in Shenzhen to see his girlfriend and six-year-old son.
“Hilary has now been missing for over two weeks and the bureau have done absolutely nothing,” said Charles.
A spokesman for Hong Kong Police said Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station received a report on March 30 from a woman “that her 60-year-old boyfriend went missing after he was last seen on March 21”.
The case was subsequently classified as that of a “missing person” and an investigation by the Regional Missing Persons Unit of Kowloon West was underway, the spokesman added.
Additional reporting by Clifford Lo
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1934568/fear-and-suspicion-mount-over-british-teacher-missing-two
