"So Very Sad": Durban Pensioner Deven Naicker Found Dead in Thailand After Week-Long Search

• The family of 65-year-old Deven Naicker confirmed his death after he vanished two days into his solo Phuket holiday
• Naicker was last seen on CCTV leaving his hotel and walking towards a nearby market, never to return
• His daughter Lavanya had been preparing to fly to Thailand to join the search when the devastating news reached her

A Durban family is mourning the loss of their father after his disappearance in Thailand ended in tragedy. Deven Naicker, a 65-year-old pensioner from Yellowwood Park, was found dead on 13 November after going missing in Phuket, where he had been holidaying alone.

Naicker arrived in Thailand on 6 November and checked into the Ashlee Hotel in Patong. He vanished just two days later, on 8 November. His daughter, Lavanya Naicker, 35, said the last contact she had with her father was shortly after he checked in. When she could no longer reach him and his phone remained switched off, the family grew alarmed.

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The hotel provided CCTV footage showing Naicker walking out of the premises in the direction of a nearby market. He never came back. "The hotel said they have not seen him since that day. They even checked his room, but he was not there," Lavanya said.

The holiday carried deep personal significance for Naicker. He had originally planned the trip to mark his 60th birthday, but postponed it after his wife passed away just days before that milestone in 2021. This year, he finally decided to make the journey. "So finally this year he said he would go. He asked if I wanted to go with him, but I was busy with work," Lavanya said.

According to The Phuket News, his body was discovered in an oil palm plantation off Phra Metta Road in Patong. Authorities were still awaiting formal identification and confirmation of the cause of death at the time of reporting. Preliminary findings indicated that the clothing on the deceased matched what Naicker had been wearing when he was last seen. Lavanya had been preparing to board a flight to Thailand to assist with the search when news of her father's death reached her. See a Facebook post about his passing below:

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South Africans mourn with Naicker family

The story moved many South Africans who shared their heartbreak and condolences online:

Sebenzile MaNxumalo Ndlovu wrote:

"First time I'm hurting for a family this much like it's my own family 😭😭💔💔💔. May Lavanya and her family find comfort in the arms of our king Christ Jesus 💔😭"

Giovanni Walters said:

"Condolences to the family"

Marion Curtis wrote:

"Deepest condolences"

Merle Marillier shared:

"I'm so sorry for your loss. So sad. What was meant to be a lovely holiday has gone horribly wrong. Sincerest condolences."

Morgan Govender added:

"So very sad. It is what it is. May he reach Atma."

Other Briefly News stories on tragic Gauteng missing-person outcomes

• A Soweto family's weeks-long search for 17-year-old Zinhle Thandeka Mfutyana, last seen near Maponya Mall on 27 September 2026, ended in heartbreak when a mortuary worker at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital contacted her mother on 9 October to confirm her body had been there since the day she was fatally shot at Bara Taxi Rank.
• Decomposed human remains unearthed by police search-and-rescue dogs on a smallholding in Boskraai, Pretoria North, on 2 September 2026 were identified as 53-year-old Allan Whelan, who had been missing since the early hours of 22 August.
• Following a six-week search led by private investigators and community security teams after official channels stalled, the partially buried bodies of 20-year-old Jessica Rabe and 25-year-old Yudistan Pillay, who vanished from Van Dyk Park in Boksburg on 17 July 2026, were uncovered at a local property on 31 August 2026.

Source: Briefly News