THE funeral of Cove botanist Jamie Taggart, who died on a plant hunting expedition in Vietnam in 2013, is expected to take place on February 12.

The retained firefighter had been missing for more than two years however his body was discovered on December 17 in the mountainous region of Sapa, in the north of the country.

This week, Dr Jim Taggart, Jamie's father, posted: "Jamie's body has now been returned to Scotland and is in the hands of our local undertaker.

"It is proposed that he will be buried in the Barbour graveyard, between Cove and Ardpeaton, alongside my parents on Friday, February 12.

"Please note this arrangement is provisional and will be confirmed (or otherwise) by a further posting."

Police officers recently visited Jim with a report from the Vietnam police.

He said in an online post: "A Mr Chan had found Jamie while on the way to inspect his fields. It appears Jamie had fallen from a very steep slope behind where his body was found.

"The location was Longitude 103 degrees 44minutes 37seconds East and Latitude 22 degrees 20 minutes 27 seconds North."

The 41-year-old was last seen on October 31 when he went out to explore the hills. His rucksack and passport were found at a guest house on November 2, 2013.

Jamie's bank card, fire brigade pass and a passport photograph was found alongside his body on December 17, 2015 and an autopsy was required to officially identify the remains.

He was not reported missing until weeks after he was last seen and the early search had been hampered by poor weather.

Jamie ran Linn Botanic Gardens, after his father Dr Jim Taggart passed on responsibility for the premises in 1997.

Jim previously told the Advertiser the Foreign Office had said Jamie is likely to have slipped on the hill, and that there was "nothing suspicious" about his death.

He said: "He was where he had said he was going - his last text said he was going to do the higher ground he hadn't seen.

"They were searching in the right general area, and they did not go up high enough.

"The hills are wooded and there's bamboo and it's difficult to see.

"It's just very sad."

Jamie's sister Janet also spoke to the Advertiser, paying tribute to her brother.

She said: "When I first heard I was just shocked, you hope for the best, and although you already sort of knew, it still comes as a shock.

"My brother was a lovely, kind man. He was just a gentleman.

"He would do anything for anyone. He enjoyed his work and he enjoyed his life.

"I'm very proud of what he has done here."