Missing dad's remains found three years after he vanished from outback road
It's been almost three years since Aaron Flynn was last seen walking along an outback Queensland road with a jerrycan in his hand.
His car had run out of fuel as he made the long drive from Caloundra to Charters Towers to attend a family funeral in November 2016.
Each and every day since then, family members who loved the 29-year-old yearned for answers about his fate but as time passed they became resigned to the fact he was probably dead.
Earlier this week police finally handed them a sense of closure, confirming scattered bones found in bushland near Rubyvale, south of Charters Towers, were his.
The discovery came in an area near to where he was last seen walking with a jerrycan.
It will now be up to the coroner to determine what happened to Mr Flynn, but police say there's nothing to indicate his death was suspicious.
In a Facebook post, his sister, Renee Napthali, gave a sense of the torment her family has suffered.
"It is with great sadness and bitter relief that we can finally share with everyone that was a part of Aaron's life, we have finally had a some closure," she wrote.
"You will forever be loved and missed by so many mate. May you Rest In Peace and may we meet again. Fly High Brother xx (sic)."
The family will hold a memorial service next month for Mr Flynn, whose daughter was just two when he vanished.
Mr Flynn’s family fought hard to find him in the weeks after he disappeared – joining an extensive search that involved helicopters, horses, quad bikes, SES workers and an indigenous tracker.
During the search, Ms Napthali spent days driving across Queensland chasing reports of sightings.
"I drove an extra 700km the other day just because a lady contacted me and said he came into a bakery and she was certain it was him," she said in late 2016.
Around the time of the disappearance, temperatures in the search area soared to 40C.
Mr Flynn's remains were found scattered across a number of locations in an isolated spot that has in recent years been affected by floods and bushfires.
Police have prepared a report for the coroner.
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