A BODY has been discovered in the search for Jamie Taggart, the botanist missing in Vietnam since 2013, it has emerged.
Jamie Taggart, from Argyll and Bute, failed to return from an expedition to the northern, mountainous region of the country 26 months ago.
He had not been seen since October 2013, when he failed to return from a plant-hunting trip in the northern mountainous region of the country.
His older sister Janet Skidmore posted on Facebook: "My brother has been found."
She added: "RIP Jamie I will miss you till I see you again your big sister love always xxxxxx "
Read more: 'This garden is Jamie's life's work'
In March Mr Taggart's mother Jill Mary started a new search for her son after obtaining further details of the route he planned to take when he disappeared. But she said "no absolute answers" had been established.
She said her son had left details of the route he had intended to follow in his hunt to document undiscovered species of orchid or rhododendron.
It is claimed the area is being searched for the first time due to previous red-tape restrictions.
Miss Mary said her son's picture was being circulated in the area, but a suspicion that he could have been arrested for a breach of rules or another reason - which had been brought up at ministerial level - were unfounded.
Neither was there any confirmation that his disappearance was due to foul play, rather than an accident, she added.
Greens co-convenor Patrick Harvie and then First Minister Alex Salmond have repeatedly pressed for diplomatic intervention.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office earlier wrote to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to raise the profile of the disappearance of Mr Mr Taggart, 42, who runs the world-renowned Linn Botanic Gardens at Cove, Argyll and Bute.
Officials have aided his mother during the visit.
Mr Taggart went missing after going trekking in October 2013, two days into a plant-documenting trip.The official search was called off in March last year but Mr Taggart's family and friends have raised thousands of pounds to fund continued searches and local investigations.
Mr Taggart's father, Jim Taggart, one of the most prominent botanists in Scotland who founded the gardens, had called for more information and said: "Someone, somewhere must know something."
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