'Help me keep my promise': Dad's tragic plea for help accessing missing backpacker's WhatsApp
The father of missing Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez has made an emotional plea to help find his son.
Lehore Hayez fronted a press conference on Monday at Tweed Heads Police Station and urged for anyone with information regarding his 18-year-old son to come forward.
“I promised Theo's little brother, Lucas, that I would bring his brother home,” Mr Hayez said as he held back tears.
“Please, help me keep my promise to him.”
The teen has been missing for over two weeks after he was last seen leaving Cheeky Monkey's bar in Bryon Bay around 11pm on May 31.
Mr Hayez confirmed his son had used WhatsApp the night he disappeared and police were working to obtain conversations on the app.
“It is vital that investigators get access to Theo's WhatsApp account without delay. Every minute counts,” he said.
The teen’s cousin earlier pleaded for help to gain access to his WhatsApp account which could prove vital in helping locate the teen.
Lisa Hayez, who arrived in Byron Bay last week to assist with the search, took to Facebook on Sunday night to plead for the messaging app to fast track police’s request for vital information regarding his movements the night he disappeared.
“We really need to access to his WhatsApp because there is a big possibility that he might (have) had a conversation with someone that night that could change everything!” she wrote.
She suggested the process can often be a lengthy one for the messaging app to release encrypted chat details and called on WhatsApp or anyone connected to the company to prioritise Mr Hayez’s case.
“Please just keep helping me to find my cousin!” she added.
WhatsApp assisting police
A Northern Region spokesperson for NSW Police was unable to comment further on whether Mr Hayez’s WhatsApp messages were currently a strong line of inquiry, but told Yahoo News Australia that “every single option is open at this stage”.
A WhatsApp spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia they are working with NSW Police.
“WhatsApp cares deeply about the safety of our users and our hearts go out to Theo Hayez and his family,” the spokesperson said.
“We understand the important work being carried out by law enforcement and are assisting them in accordance with applicable law and our terms of service.”
At Monday’s press conference, Tweed-Byron Police District Commander Superintendent David Roptell said authorities were “baffled” by his disappearance.
“It’s been very difficult,” he said.
“He was intending to go home. It's just, as I said, baffling as to what's occurred, but let me just say, we're not ruling anything out.”
Police have obtained footage from a holiday home on Shirley Street —about a kilometre from the place where he was last seen outside Cheeky Monkey’s.
Mr Hayez’s family believe the snippet of video, which hasn’t been released to the public yet, shows him following directions on his phone to get back to his hostel.
The missing teen's mother Vinciane Delforge last week told a French broadcaster last week her son’s disappearance was out of character.
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