Missing – Donald Mackenzie

http://player.vimeo.com/video/16804999?portrait=0&autoplay=1

Mrs Margaret Mackenzie appeals to the Turkish government to look for her son, Donald. He is missing on Mount Ararat in Turkey since mid-October 2010.

15 November 2010

The mother of a Scottish man who disappeared in Turkey has appealed to the government of that country to authorise a search and rescue operation.

Donald Mackenzie went missing on Mount Ararat while searching for Noah’s Ark. His mother Margaret said the main problem now was the lack of action by the Turkish government.

The family has learned that AKUT, the Turkish voluntary search and rescue association, is willing to help in the search but cannot do without the permission of the government.

Mr Mackenzie, 47, was reported missing by a friend on October 14 after he failed to return from an expedition. He is one of several Christians who regularly search for the ark on the mountain every year.

According to the Bible, the vessel – with Noah, his family and at least two of each species of animal on board – came to rest on the mountain after God flooded the Earth.

At home in Stornoway in the Western Isles of Scotland, his mother Margaret Mackenzie said he was keen to return this year after a Chinese group claimed to have found the remains of the boat.

In a televised appeal which is also being sent to Turkish broadcasters, Mrs Mackenzie says: “As a mother I would appeal to the Turkish government to mobilise a team to go up the mountain and look for Donald. Too much time has been wasted already. If anyone is able to keep himself alive as long as possible, it is Donald. But time is going on and on.”

She insists he is an adventurer and very resourceful and the chances are high that he could still be alive.

Mrs Mackenzie also revealed that other searchers in Turkey had offered to search for her son but they wanted several thousand pounds to do so. The family is now considering some of these offers.

Donald Mackenzie, who has in recent years been working as a labourer in London, spoke to one of his three brothers on September 20 and his family have not heard from him since.  Even though he was reported missing on October 14, it was only a week that the family was told.

Mr Mackenzie became interested in searching for Noah’s Ark in his early 40s, and did a variety of jobs to fund his travels.

He attends the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland because he believes it sticks closest to the Bible.  Mount Ararat is the highest peak in Turkey, at 16,945ft above sea level.