Edward Roy De Souza
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Re: SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, th - 2008/10/11 19:20
Dear Chandra3,
Thanks for the posting.
It has been more than four decades since Jim disappeared from the Cameron Highlands. To date, a lot of things have been said about him -- some true; some false. A fine example is what you brought up concerning his photo taking session at the Lutheran Mission bungalow.
Of late, there has been this talk that he was seen by a gardener when he came by to the mission home. It is said that both of them exchanged "hellos". The teenager, who was in the midst of weeding a flower bed, remembered seeing him with a camera around his neck. While he was in the compound, he spent about 10 minutes taking photographs of the place. After he had done so, he waved to the youngster and said "bye, see you".
This account, sad to say, is not true. What actually happened is this: When he trespassed into the chalet, he was seen by a cook named Che Fatimah binte Mohamed Yeh. She told the police she saw him at 4pm.
"I was in the kitchen," she told Superintendent A.S. Nathan, "when I saw him come up the road. He had on a white shirt and a pair of gray slacks. He stopped for a while to take a look at the garden. While looking at the plants, he did not speak to anyone. A short while later, he left the premises and headed the same way from where he came."
The testimony of Che Fatimah was brought to light three days after Jim was reported as lost. As for the gardener, his revelations were made known 40 years later.
Of the two, it is obvious the gardener was not telling the truth. To begin with, Jim did not have a camera when he came over to the retreat. The same could also be said of the Lings. The only one who had a camera was Constance Mangskau. She brought it along with her when she joined Jim and the Lings for a picnic at Gunong Brinchang. While they were at the picnic, a few shots were taken. When she got back to Bangkok, she saw to it that the photographs were developed.
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