Australia Australia - Theo Hayez, 18, Belgian backpacker, Byron Bay, June 2019

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Beagle

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https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...-to-his-byron-bay-hostel-20190608-p51vrb.html

Serious concerns are held for the whereabouts of a Belgian backpacker who has been missing for more than a week, after he failed to return to his hostel in Byron Bay.

Theo Hayez, 18, was reported missing on Thursday by staff at the Byron Bay WakeUp! Backpacker hostel, when they noticed he had not checked out of his room.

9c8d92cb90fb1352ef4cf290d7105d2b766906a3
 
When I was in Byron Bay for a while we used to love to do this hike up to the lighthouse in the dark to catch the sunrise. Was a beautiful spot, hopefully he didn't have the same idea, back then I could see an accident occuring.
I had done the walk up the lighthouse... In daylight it wasn't dangerous, but I don't know about in the dark, and after a few drinks at the bar. If that was when and where he was going, after last spotted.
 
Unfortunately everything is behind a paywall Beagle but I pasted a couple of snippets.

POLICE FIND JACKET IN SEARCH FOR MISSING BELGIAN TEEN

Concerns for Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez, 18, who has been missing for a week, are rising. SEE VIDEO OF THE SEARCH.
We’re for Sydney | Daily Telegraph

Police find black jacket in search for missing Belgian teenager Theo ...
Herald Sun-25 minutes ago
... find black jacket in search for missing Belgian teenager Theo Hayez ... to one worn by a missing Belgian backpacker has been found in an
 
But Mr Hayez's mobile phone records have helped investigators narrow down the search area to east of the Byron Bay CBD and in and around bushland to the northeast.

Why would he be wandering around bushland early in the next day? (It isn't said when the phone was last tracked, but a few more hours of power left is perhaps a reasonable guess)

Maybe he really was going to watch the sunrise, like @akazia1978 was saying. And as recommended too by the hostel where he was staying:
Top 6 insta-worthy places to visit in Byron Bay

THE MOST EASTERN POINT

Come with the sunrise tour at Wake Up, with a friend, or enjoy it by yourself. Pack a bag (a blanket if its winter) water and some brekkie. Make sure you get up there about 15-20 minutes before sunrise so you can dawn break like nowhere else in Australia.
 
Fears grow for backpacker missing in NSW

Friend Michael Dorkhom says Theo has been identified in more CCTV footage from Byron Bay's main street in the minutes after he left the bar.

Mr Hayez's final known activity is believed to be when he sent a message to another friend in Belgium after midnight.

"It seems like he was still happy where he was at that time, so he might've met someone on the way to the backpackers or decided to go and lay on the beach for a bit, we don't know," Mr Dorkhom wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
 
Mobile phone records helped investigators narrow the search area east of the Byron Bay CBD, and in and around bushland to the northeast, earlier this week.

But on Tuesday the search shifted to Belongil Beach, which is across the road from the backpackers' accommodation.

*modsnip*.
Fears grow for backpacker missing in NSW
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Byron Bay police use specialist drone to search for missing Belgian backpacker

Backpacker Theo Hayez should have been flying home to Belgium today, but instead his family continue to desperately search for him in the coastal NSW town of Byron Bay.
The 18-year-old vanished after leaving popular night spot Cheeky Monkey’s late on Friday, May 31.
Police are baffled as to what happened to Theo but are keeping an open mind as the search for him enters its 13th day.

'We know he wouldn't put himself in danger'


 
Theo had been travelling in Australia since last November with his cousin Lisa Hayez who spent the past 13 days door knocking residents and business in the holiday town and plastering missing person posters on every post she can.
 
Byron Bay police use specialist drone to search for missing Belgian backpacker

Backpacker Theo Hayez should have been flying home to Belgium today, but instead his family continue to desperately search for him in the coastal NSW town of Byron Bay.
The 18-year-old vanished after leaving popular night spot Cheeky Monkey’s late on Friday, May 31.
Police are baffled as to what happened to Theo but are keeping an open mind as the search for him enters its 13th day.

'We know he wouldn't put himself in danger'

The walk from the bar to the hostel is about 30 minutes, dark and quiet at that time of the night. My accommodation a few years ago was on that side of Byron too, though not that far away. So I had walked along that route a few times. Not that I thought it was dangerous. There were plenty of houses and hotels/motels around. But hardly anyone walked.
 
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