Advertisement

Potential breakthrough expected in Theo Hayez investigation

Significant new details about the night Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez went missing almost three years ago in Byron Bay are expected to be presented when a coronial inquest continues today.

The information could mark a potential breakthrough in the investigation into the 18-year-old’s disappearance, NSW State Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan was told on Wednesday.

Theo vanished on May 31, 2019, after he left Cheeky Monkeys bar in Byron Bay. He was reported missing on June 6 after he failed to arrive in Melbourne.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Kristen Edwards, said “significant” new evidence is expected to be presented on Thursday that could narrow down the teen's last movements.

New South Wales police are seen in the Cape Byron State Conservation Area during the search for missing backpacker Theo Hayez in Byron Bay.
Police search for Theo Hayez after he disappeared in Byron Bay. Source: AAP

She said investigators are hopeful they've tracked down someone who was exchanging messages with Theo shortly before his phone stopped transmitting his location.

Theo’s phone stopped communicating with the nearest tower at 1.02am, just seven minutes after he sent his last text message to his step-sister Emma.

The 18-year-old’s phone began transmitting data again around 6am, but it stopped completely later that afternoon.

The news comes after police announced a $500,000 reward for anyone with information that can “fill the gap” in Theo’s disappearance.

Theo Hayez wears a brown hat and smiles at the camera. To the right is a missing persons poster featuring Theo.
Theo Hayez was last seen leaving a bar in Byron Bay on May 31, 2019. Source: AAP

Officer who led initial Theo Hayez search admits inexperience

The inquest also heard on Wednesday that the police officer who led the initial search for Theo was inexperienced, missing vital training and would conduct the operation very differently with the benefit of hindsight.

Senior Constable Louis Papworth admitted to the coroner he had conducted only two minor searches before the Belgian teen went missing.

Both were launched within hours of when the subject was last seen and both people were located quickly.

Sen Const Papworth said the magnitude and complexity of the search for Theo — which began nine days after he was last seen — made it vastly different to anything he'd ever done before.

It remains the hardest search he's ever done, and he thinks of the teen on a daily basis, he told the inquest.

Sen Const Papworth ended up coordinating the search over its first two days, despite being recently accredited, simply because he was in possession of the on-call phone at the time, he said.

He also had no training in a GPS search mapping tool, and instead relied on paper maps and pens.

In hindsight, Theo Hayez search would be conducted differently

Due to the urgency of the search and his inexperience, he told the inquest he had made some mistakes.

His paperwork from the first day of the search wasn't up to its usual standard, and he had deployed volunteers without a picture of Theo and had also sent out teams without GPS devices to log their movements on at least the first — and probably the second — day of the search.

With the benefit of hindsight Sen Const Papworth would also have tried to find out more about Theo's interests and behaviour, to help tailor the search.

If he had access to location data sourced from Theo's phone on those first two days, the officer agreed he would have approached the search "in a very different way, and with a lot more intensity".

The data showed Theo had spent seven minutes at a local sporting field, before charting a route through the Arakwal National Park to Cosy Corner Beach.

Theo's family desperate for answers

In a video message recorded from Belgium, Theo’s parents said they welcomed the new $500,000 reward and are desperate for answers.

“We are now coming up to three years since Theo’s disappearance, we believe this reward may be one of our last opportunities to find answers about what happened to Theo,” his dad Laurent Hayez said.

"A key question we are seeking to address is whether he was with someone on the night of May 31, 2019, which we strongly believe to be the case.”

The current police theory is that Theo clambered up the beachside cliffs, dropped his phone, then fell and was swept out to sea, something his family says goes against the teen's sensible, risk-averse nature.

Another search and rescue operator who searched the cliffs in the area with a drone and by abseiling down some told the inquest on Wednesday they were incredibly steep and crumbly.

"I've been off many, many, many cliffs and that one made me nervous," Senior Constable John Stirling said.

Theo's father Laurent speaks to the media in June 2019 with Theo's godfather, Jean-Philippe Pector, and cousin, Lisa Hayez.
Theo's father Laurent speaks to the media in June, 2019 with Theo's godfather, Jean-Philippe Pector, and cousin, Lisa Hayez. Source: AAP

The current police theory is that Theo clambered up the beachside cliffs, dropped his phone, then fell and was swept out to sea, something his family says goes against the teen's sensible, risk-averse nature.

Another search and rescue operator who searched the cliffs in the area with a drone and by abseiling down some told the inquest on Wednesday they were incredibly steep and crumbly.

"I've been off many, many, many cliffs and that one made me nervous," Senior Constable John Stirling said.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.