By Tim Binnall
A Malaysian paranormal vlogger gave his followers quite the scare when he disappeared during a live ghost hunt and was discovered more than a day later under rather unusual circumstances. The curious case reportedly began on Friday evening as the unnamed content creator was investigating the purportedly haunted Melaka Botanical Gardens in the community of Ayer Keroh. After around 30 minutes, the ghost hunter's livestream abruptly ended. When the vlogger's broadcast did not resume that evening and attempts to contact him proved futile, his friends and fans understandably feared for his safety.
Authorities were eventually alerted to the worrisome situation on Sunday afternoon, which sparked a sizeable search for the missing man. After looking for around three hours, the ghost hunter was inexplicably located in a restroom at the nearby Skytrex Adventure Melaka tourist attraction. Strangely, the vlogger was said to be in such "weak condition" that he was taken to the hospital for medical treatment and provided no explanation for where he had been for the last 40-plus hours. While authorities indicated that they are investigating the peculiar incident, more than a few people on Malaysian social media have raised suspicions about the weird turn of events.
As one might imagine, many have speculated that the content creator's disappearance was a hoax, with one observer musing that it could have been "a viral marketing campaign for his livestreams" and another outright declaring that the incident was "a stunt." To that end, some have noted that the Melaka Botanical Gardens is generally not a location where one might get lost, especially for more than a day, which further fueled doubts surrounding the case. That said, if the content creator did fake his disappearance for online clout, it may wind up backfiring on him, as there are calls for authorities to punish him for wasting police resources should the suspicions be proven.