A man on a solo tour of South East Asia has gone missing while backpacking as his family prepares to fly out to Malaysia to search for him.
Jordan Johnson-Doyle, 25, has not been heard from since Tuesday, May 27, with his mother saying she feels ‘numb’ and ‘just wants to bring him home’.
Family and friends spent days frantically trying to get in touch with him by phone, email and social media before his phone went dead in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, May 30.
His last known location was the Healy Mac’s Irish Bar in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, at around 8pm on Tuesday, May 27, when he sent his best friend Owen a photograph of the pub’s quiz night poster.
His mother Leanne Burnett said: ‘I have been been feeling just sick, numb. I just want to get over there, find him and bring him home. I want him to know we’re looking for him and we’re coming to get him.
‘I have no idea what has happened. All I know is something is really wrong for him not to contact anybody. I know what he’s like and he knows how worried everyone gets at home, that’s why he checks in all the time.
‘If he was to lose his phone and laptop, if someone had stolen that off him, he knows my number by heart and he would contact.
‘He would go to the nearest hotel to use the phone, or go to an internet café. He’d find a way to get hold of us.’
Jordan Johnson-Doyle, 25, has not been heard from since Tuesday, May 27
Family and friends spent days frantically trying to get in touch with him by phone, email and social media before his phone went dead in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, May 30
On Wednesday morning, Leanne said she checked the ‘Find My iPhone’ tracking service for the location of her son’s mobile phone, and saw it was located at a residential flat block near the bar.
She said: ‘I speak to Jordan every day and I have him on find my iPhone, so I always have a look before I go to bed and when I wake in the morning.
‘But when I woke up on the Wednesday morning, his Find My iPhone had not updated. It just said ‘last seen 11 hours ago’.
‘It means it’s either out of signal or out of range. And this was the last place it had a signal. It was a block of flats in that same area, literally down the road from the bar.
‘I carried on tracking him throughout the day, trying to phone him as well. I couldn’t get hold of him on Facebook or Instagram. If he does lose his phone, he usually messages me on Facebook or Instagram.
‘But it just kept on showing at this location, and the ‘time last seen’ kept going up and up, and now the phone has gone off completely. It’s run out of battery.’
Jordan’s phone went dead on Friday, May 30, three days after he was last seen.
Leanne said: ‘I’m a really worried mum because he’s working away. So he knows if I can’t contact him, he will contact me. I did get a bit anxious and started checking Find My iPhone a bit more and checking Instagram, but just nothing.
‘I didn’t hear from him on Tuesday and by Wednesday I couldn’t get his location. Then his phone went off, and that’s when I contacted his best friend Owen, and he said he hadn’t heard from him since Tuesday and was getting worried himself. I called the police straight away.’
Jordan, a software engineer, had been backpacking around the Mediterranean and South East Asia for around a year and a half while working remotely for an American company.
He arrived in Malaysia on May 17 after previously visiting Vietnam, and is believed to have been staying at the Robertson Residences at Bukit, Kuala Lumpur.
Leanne, 44 said she last spoke to him on Monday, May 26, and their conversation had been the usual chit-chat about their working days.
She said: ‘He seemed absolutely fine and normal. Nothing stood out whatsoever. We always end the phone call with ‘love long time’ and that was the very last thing we said to each other.’
As well as reporting Jordan missing to Merseyside Police, Leanne also contacted the British Consulate and police in Malaysia.
She said the family had also tried to contact the hotel where Jordan is believed to have been staying, but struggled due to the language barrier.
His workplace has also been informed.
His last known location was the Healy Mac’s Irish Bar in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, at around 8pm on Tuesday, May 27, when he sent his best friend Owen a photograph of the pub’s quiz night poster. Pictured: Jordan’s last known message
She said: ‘It has been awful. But all his friends and family have been rallying round.
‘We’ve pieced together the last pictures and memes he’s been sanding, we’ve got his messages, so we’re building up a timeline of his movements.
‘His dad is travelling out there today, and me, his brother, best friends and his stepdad are going out tomorrow.’
Tearfully, she begged members of the public to share her son’s missing persons appeal far and wide.
She said: ‘Jordan was really shy in high school, but since he has got his job and turned into a man he’s become really outgoing, so funny, very intelligent.
‘He’s got a massive work ethic and is very loving. He looks after his brother. His brother looks up to him so much and he’s loved by everyone, all his friends and family.
‘We’re very worried. My friends and family are constantly here. We’ve got a group set up. I’ve got family posting all over Facebook and whatever Malaysian sites we can find. We’ve got others contacting our MP. We’re just doing everything we can.
‘Please share anything. If anybody has seen him, please share it far and wide. If anyone has heard from him, seen him, seen him active on social media – anything. We just need to find him and bring him home.’
Merseyside Police has been approached for comment. Leanne said the police incident reference for anyone reporting a sighting to Merseyside Police was 5198 of May 30, 2025.
