Australian billionaire heir Peter Holmes à Court has revealed that his young son has been “found” in Africa after he previously launched a mysterious search for the child.
But in a surprise twist, the boy’s mother, Mr. Holmes a Court’s wife, Alissa Everett, insists that her son, Jaden, was never missing in the first place.
Holmes à Court, 56, is Russell Crowe’s former business partner who invested with him in the South Sydney NRL club in 2006, and the older brother of Teals MP backer Simon Holmes à Court, 53.
He now lives in Nairobi, Kenya, with his wife Alissa and four-and-a-half-year-old son, where they run a network of hotels and event spaces called Afrika House.
But Holmes à Court this week launched a huge search campaign for Jaden, putting his photo on billboards in Nairobi and online, asking for help to find him.
The posters said the boy was last seen in Shela Village, Lamu County, along with contact numbers, including Mr Holmes à Court’s personal number, to get in touch.
On Tuesday, Holmes à Court confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that her son had been “found” but declined to go into details about the boy’s “disappearance.”
However, hours later, his American wife, a photographer and humanitarian, told Daily Mail Australia that their son had never disappeared.
Australian business tycoon Peter Holmes en Court and his wife, photographer Alissa Everett (both pictured)
Peter Holmes, a court circulated missing posters of his four-and-a-half-year-old son Jaden, asking the public for more information about his son’s whereabouts.
“Fortunately he is not missing and never was,” Mrs Everett said. “He’s safe with me.”
Locals have suggested that Everett was on holiday with his son in the Lamu area, amid rumors of trouble in his marriage, at the time the alert was raised.
The couple had already suffered tragedy when, just days before their scheduled wedding in Botswana in 2014, the couple were involved in a fatal collision, along with dozens of friends and family.
The group was aboard a tourist tram in Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls when a freight train ignored a stop sign and hit them from behind, leaving one dead and 20 injured.
Will Poovey, an American father of two, was flown to South Africa for treatment but did not survive the freak accident.
Born in an area of extreme wealth, Peter is the first child of Robert and Janet Holmes. He attended the illustrious Geelong Grammar School and Oxford University.
His late father was born in South Africa before coming to Australia and becoming the country’s first billionaire thanks to his investments in resources and media.
Robert’s death left his wife Janet one-third of the family fortune and the four children kept the other two-thirds. The amount Peter allegedly received was $35 million.
The couple are seen holding a sign remembering their friend Will Poovey, who died in a train accident shortly before the wedding.
Peter Holmes a Court and Alissa Everett have lived in Kenya for several years.
In 2000, Holmes à Court reached an out-of-court settlement with his family to obtain the inheritance of the Heytesbury family business.
He famously sold his 37.5 per cent stake in the first team to billionaire businessman James Packer for an undisclosed amount.
The couple have lived in Kenya for several years after spending increasing time in Africa a decade ago.
In addition to Casa Afrika, Ms Everett runs the Exposing Hope charity to draw attention to the harsh conditions faced by war victims and refugees.