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

[Matlock]

I'm not sure why there are questions around why TH was travelling alone? I know of many young people who have travelled alone, particularly in gap years just like TH. For some, it is a rite of passage, like that first Maccas run after getting their license. He was also meeting up with his cousin from time to time on his travels.

I still travel to India on my own. Been to Dharamsala loads of times. It's full of young backpackers who travel alone or with friends although generally young men would travel alone more than young women. I'm female so I'm in the minority, especially for travelling in India.

 

[insearchoflight]

This is sadly looking like so many other cases we see here. Night of partying and ending up accidentally in the water. It never makes sense. You think how could this happen??? There has to be some other explanation, right? How would a person just end up in the water deceased? I never get it, never makes sense. But it keeps happening. So sad for the family and so senseless. I only hope for some sort of understanding and answers for the family.

 

[Matlock]

There are totally reasonable explanations to all the questions you posed. However, as I have said, I feel there is foul play involved given the Belgian police came here.

If they really did only come to observe the local investigation then the logical reason for Theo's disappearance given he had no car, didn't use a taxi or uber to get some place, had no cash on him according to the friend who was with him at CM, used his credit card for the last time at CM and hasn't been found on land despite a huge search is that he is in water. Where else could he be if no-one else was involved? I can't believe he staged his own disappearance.

How did his friend know he had no cash on him? Maybe there was an occasion at CM where Theo said he had no cash but would pay For his drink by card? Or his friend looked in his wallet? Or it's the friend who was at the bottle shop with him and Theo told him there that he had no cash? If it's true then Theo couldn't have bought drugs from anyone with no physical cash? (not implying he would have done this, drugs are just a theory)

 

[Matlock]

If he had gone down to the beach then in that last message to his friend in Belgium after 12am it would be normal at some stage during the conversation to say something like "I'm sitting on a beautiful beach looking at the stars while I'm talking to you". When you travel you often say these things in the middle of a conversation. Sometimes the person at the other end may even ask. I'm still unclear about the last message after 12am was it the one where he was talking about the band?

 

[Oz Jen]

I didn't question his travelling at that age - of course lots do - rather the assumption that he was a 'smart' backpacker. We know nothing much about his travels here or elsewhere. We don't need to. The fact is at 18 years old you're much less likely to be able to get yourself out of dangerous/tricky situations as someone even just a few years older. You can't hurry along life skills and life experience. You live and learn.

Plunky, not sure why you have quoted me? I was answering those who have questioned why Theo was travelling on his own. IMO some travellers at 18 years of age are naive while others are mature and 'smart' beyond their years. Depends on life experiences.

 

[Plunky]

How did his friend know he had no cash on him? Maybe there was an occasion at CM where Theo said he had no cash but would pay For his drink by card? Or his friend looked in his wallet? Or it's the friend who was at the bottle shop with him and Theo told him there that he had no cash? If it's true then Theo couldn't have bought drugs from anyone with no physical cash? (not implying he would have done this, drugs are just a theory)

Quite a few pages back there's a series of Q&A quoted from the Facebook page set up to look for him. That's where it says the friend said he had no cash on him but it didn't elaborate how he knew. Someone else questioned earlier that CM is really busy so how did the manager know that Theo only bought two drinks. The same Q&A quoted police as saying the last time he used his credit card was at CM. It'd be easy to check how much he spent and for the manager to check the sales records and know what he bought.

But about having no cash on him the friend would have had to have done a full body search as you sort of imply to really know. What Theo told him and what was the truth could have been two different things. Perhaps he had a bit of cash on him to buy drugs but obviously didn't want his friend to know?

 

[Plunky]

Plunky, not sure why you have quoted me? I was answering those who have questioned why Theo was travelling on his own.

Because I couldn't see on the page you posted your message, or on a few pages back, where people were querying why he was travelling on his own and I thought you were talking about me saying 18 is very young. Maybe I missed all the earlier posts you were answering or referring to.

 

[Oz Jen]

Because I couldn't see on the page you posted your message, or on a few pages back, where people were querying why he was travelling on his own and I thought you were talking about me saying 18 is very young. Maybe I missed all the earlier posts you were answering.

I didn't quote anyone in my comment.

 

[Aron.Wor]

I'm not sure why there are questions around why TH was travelling alone? I know of many young people who have travelled alone, particularly in gap years just like TH. For some, it is a rite of passage, like that first Maccas run after getting their license. He was also meeting up with his cousin from time to time on his travels.

I might be that TH was indulging in some activities he wasn't comfortable disclosing with his close friends and relatives. That's why

 

[Oz Jen]

I might be that TH was indulging in some activities he wasn't comfortable disclosing with his close friends and relatives. That's why

Just because a young person chooses to travel alone does not mean they may be indulging in questionable activities.

 

[Via Marple]

If he had gone down to the beach then in that last message to his friend in Belgium after 12am it would be normal at some stage during the conversation to say something like "I'm sitting on a beautiful beach looking at the stars while I'm talking to you". When you travel you often say these things in the middle of a conversation. Sometimes the person at the other end may even ask. I'm still unclear about the last message after 12am was it the one where he was talking about the band?

That's an idea. Not likely that he was somewhere admiring nature. Perhaps listening to music, whether by himself or somewhere that was playing music?

 

[Plunky]

If he had gone down to the beach then in that last message to his friend in Belgium after 12am it would be normal at some stage during the conversation to say something like "I'm sitting on a beautiful beach looking at the stars while I'm talking to you". When you travel you often say these things in the middle of a conversation. Sometimes the person at the other end may even ask.

It's not clear where he made the call from. It's possible he could have been at the beach and not mentioned it but also possible if he did go to the beach it was much later than just after midnight. The timeline is he left CM around 11pm and then:

"Theo's phone was last recorded shortly after midnight being somewhere east of the CBD of Byron Bay, in a north-east direction up towards the lighthouse.

"Our last recorded phone records that the phone was used in and around this area," Tweed Byron Police District Chief Inspector Matt Kehoe said.

Timeline of a mystery: Theo's last known movements

 

[SouthAussie]

I might be that TH was indulging in some activities he wasn't comfortable disclosing with his close friends and relatives. That's why

I have considered what you are thinking. Not illegal. And a way that Theo may have disappeared if he met the wrong person.

 

[Oz Jen]

You know, no one ever solved anything by keeping their minds closed possibilities. Do you think that regurgitating material is going to provide new insight? Because I don't.

I'm open to any possibility and have an open mind. Not sure what you mean by regurgitating material? Please elaborate.

 

[SouthAussie]

It's not clear where he made the call from. It's possible he could have been at the beach and not mentioned it but also possible if he did go to the beach it was much later than just after midnight. The timeline is he left CM around 11pm and then:

"Theo's phone was last recorded shortly after midnight being somewhere east of the CBD of Byron Bay, in a north-east direction up towards the lighthouse.

"Our last recorded phone records that the phone was used in and around this area," Tweed Byron Police District Chief Inspector Matt Kehoe said.

Timeline of a mystery: Theo's last known movements

Thanks for that. I had not seen that location before, for Theo's last phone recording. Possibly near the Tallow Beach carpark then. Which makes Aron's theory even more possible imo.

 

[margarita25]

Yes. The smiley face killer theory is related to young men of college ending end in rivers. Fortunately, we have not had a similar situation, to our knowledge in Australia.

I think the smiley face killer theory has been debunked.

One of my theories, which sounds crazy, is that these men are attracted to water and have to urinate. I don’t know how else to phrase that, sounds lame when I write it, wish I could explain it better.

 

[Plunky]

Thanks for that. I had not seen that location before, for Theo's last phone recording. Possibly near the Tallow Beach carpark then. Which makes Aron's theory even more possible imo.

And Dening Park.

 

[Aron.Wor]

I think the smiley face killer theory has been debunked.

One of my theories, which sounds crazy, is that these men are attracted to water and have to urinate. I don’t know how else to phrase that, sounds lame when I write it, wish I could explain it better.

Actually, I've never heard that part of the theory. O that's your theory.. I've heard of people go missing from very public areas and end up dead in waterways. There are a couple of detectives that think the theory is real. It's a weird case. Many theories. There has been mention of similar circumstances in the UK also, but I think people are trying too hard to string the two together.

 

[Matlock]

It's not clear where he made the call from. It's possible he could have been at the beach and not mentioned it but also possible if he did go to the beach it was much later than just after midnight. The timeline is he left CM around 11pm and then:

"Theo's phone was last recorded shortly after midnight being somewhere east of the CBD of Byron Bay, in a north-east direction up towards the lighthouse.

"Our last recorded phone records that the phone was used in and around this area," Tweed Byron Police District Chief Inspector Matt Kehoe said.

Timeline of a mystery: Theo's last known movements

I wasn't saying he was at the beach. I just meant that often in conversation with someone back home you mention where you are like "I'm sitting on a mountain top" "I'm drinking a cocktail looking out at the sunset over the lake" "I'm gazing at the moon from my hotel balcony" etc. I think I had mistakenly thought that his last conversation with a friend back home (the call talking about the band) was the call just after 12 and that he could have given a clue to his location during the conversation. But maybe this friend call was earlier and the one after 12 was the encrypted one?

 

[SouthAussie]

I wasn't saying he was at the beach. I just meant that often in conversation with someone back home you mention where you are like "I'm sitting on a mountain top" "I'm drinking a cocktail looking out at the sunset over the lake" "I'm gazing at the moon from my hotel balcony" etc. I think I had mistakenly thought that his last conversation with a friend back home (the call talking about the band) was the call just after 12 and that he could have given a clue to his location during the conversation. But maybe this friend call was earlier and the one after 12 was the encrypted one?

There also could be a bunch of online activity that we do not know about, if Theo hooked into public/private wifi for online use (many international travellers do this to supplement their costly and limited mobile data plans).

I agree that it is common to tell friends where/what you are doing when you communicate with them.
"Got kicked out of a nightclub tonight, they said I was drunk. pfft. Now I am sitting here at ......
Yeah, XXXX are playing in Melbourne next week, maybe I can get to see them."