The father of a British man missing since October in Cambodia has appealed for help in tracking down a Cambodian man who befriended his son in the weeks prior to his mysterious disappearance.
Following interviews with several people who saw Eddie Gibson, 20, in the month he was known to be in Cambodia and using hotel registers, his father, Mike Gibson, has managed to piece together some of his son’s last known footsteps.
Shortly after arriving in Phnom Penh on Oct 9, he befriended a Cambodian woman named Ami.
He also checked into the New York Hotel for several days under the assumed name Mickey Dellar, Gibson said Thursday in Phnom Penh.
The 20-year-old also used his real name to check into at least two other Phnom Penh hotels, the Mittapheap and the Capitol 2, in the month he was known to be in Cambodia.
Eddie told Ami he was going to Poipet on two separate occasions.
After one of the trips, he returned to Phnom Penh with a Cambodian man whom he may have met during a previous trip to Cambodia.
The year before, Eddie and some friends stayed at a Poipet guest house and were introduced to a Cambodian man named Trip, who was apparently a tour guide, Gibson said.
In photos and video footage that captured some of his son’s adventures in Cambodia, “Trip is there all the time,” Gibson said.
On Oct 13, Eddie also paid for two rooms at the New York Hotel, one for himself and Ami and the other for two unidentified Cambodians, a man and his apparent girlfriend, Gibson added.
Ami has since said she did not know who the other man was, but Gibson believes this was Trip.
“We think the key is finding this Cambodian,” Gibson said. “We think there’s a strong chance he’s alive and just doesn’t want to be found.”
Eddie was supposed to have flown home to England on Oct 31, but did not board his flight from Phnom Penh.
The last news his family has heard of him was an e-mail Oct 24 saying he was coming home.