Mother says new evidence shows son Jake Herd ‘wasn’t alone’ before hiking death in Kazakhstan

The mother of A Melbourne man who died of hypothermia on a hike in Kazakhstan says she’s found new evidence which suggests her son met with foul play.

Jake Herd on a hike in Kazakhstan just days before his body was found. Picture: Supplied

A Melbourne mother has uncovered fresh evidence that suggests her son was not alone before he mysteriously died while hiking on his trip of a lifetime.

Wendy Costa is continuing her fight for answers after her son, Jake Herd, died of hypothermia after a hiking accident in the Tian Shan mountain range in Kazakhstan.

The Melbourne University graduate and budding lawyer, 27, was found dead in the “Mountains of Heaven” three days after he was reported missing in May last year.

Initial police and local media reports suggested Mr Herd hiked the mountains alone, but Ms Costa continues to discover fresh evidence that disputes those claims.

Photos located on Mr Herd’s smashed iPhone show images of two men hiking with him while another picture shows the group sharing lunch together near the summit.

Jake Herd is pictured at the Big Almaty Lake moments before he set off on the hike. Picture: Supplied

A picture on Mr Herd’s smashed phone that shows a man Ms Costa believes was sharing lunch with her son during the hike. Ms Costa hopes the man will be able to shed more light on her son’s behaviour prior to his death. Picture: Supplied

The Coolaroo mother remains steadfast in her attempts to identify and speak to those men to shed light on her son’s last hours.

But a recent chemical analysis of the contents of Mr Herd’s drink bottle detected a 2.6 per cent reading of ethanol — found in alcohol.

Ms Costa said that either disputes police reports claiming he had not purchased alcohol in the days before his death — or someone gave it to him while hiking on that fateful day.

She said it once again proved he was not alone on the mountain above the Big Almaty Lake.

“He wouldn’t have gone up a mountain with alcohol, he had water. His friend confirmed that,” she told the Herald Sun.

“He went up with water and he came back down with wine. He definitely socialised up there.

“He didn’t buy any drinks over there. Someone else has given it to him while he was up there.”

She said a video recently uncovered from his iPhone also proved he was not alone just minutes before his death.

Wendy Costa with a picture of her son. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

At least one man is heard speaking Kazakh in the background near the summit, which has been translated by a professional in recent weeks.

“It’s so great, I am looking at landscape now. I am enjoying. Thinking about victory only,” the man is heard saying in the clip.

Ms Costa said that only proved he was with others before his grisly death.

“I think it’s pretty big, it shows that he wasn’t alone and they kept telling me he was,” she added.
She hopes the man in the clip will be able to shed more light on her son’s behaviour prior to his death.

Ms Costa funded her own trip to the Big Almaty Lake in remote Kazakhstan in May, forking out thousands of dollars in her mission to find the truth.

She said authorities were unwilling to co-operate with her during police interviews and is now considering hiring a private detective.

She said her main objective is to locate and contact the man her son photographed near the summit.

“I’m still waiting for them to open (the case) up but it’s just not happening,” she added.

“I just need to know who that guy is.”