WEBVTT - The Witness Who Waited 35 Years 0:00:05.921 --> 0:00:13.401 Approche production. Have you ever lost something, maybe it was 0:00:13.441 --> 0:00:19.081 your keys, your mobile phone, or something more valuable. To 0:00:19.201 --> 0:00:22.201 find them, you retrace your steps, You look in all 0:00:22.201 --> 0:00:25.200 the places they're most likely to be, and sometimes you 0:00:25.241 --> 0:00:28.361 look in places where they're probably not, but just in case. 0:00:29.721 --> 0:00:33.001 Sometimes when things go missing, you blame other people. You 0:00:33.081 --> 0:00:36.081 ask them if they've put them somewhere, if they've seen them. 0:00:36.801 --> 0:00:40.361 You sometimes think the worst, maybe they've been stolen, taken 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:43.600 from you when you weren't looking. Some of those theories 0:00:43.601 --> 0:00:45.920 that you come up with when something goes missing are 0:00:45.961 --> 0:00:52.041 far fetched. You blame and have unreasonable thoughts. Those themes 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:56.481 will be explored in this podcast, but not with insignificant 0:00:56.521 --> 0:01:05.321 material things, but with a person. This is a story 0:01:05.521 --> 0:01:09.560 of Desmond Francis Carr, who was last seen at three 0:01:09.601 --> 0:01:15.640 pm on August two, nineteen seventy nine, and then he disappeared. 0:01:16.401 --> 0:01:19.560 Here's what we've learned so far. There are four theories 0:01:19.601 --> 0:01:25.001 around Desert's disappearance. UFO's concussion, he got lost in the bush, 0:01:25.401 --> 0:01:28.800 or he was drunk. There has only ever been one siding, 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:32.961 a man whose named rhyme with car. Apart from that, 0:01:34.041 --> 0:01:35.720 he's never been seen again. 0:01:36.961 --> 0:01:40.241 Evidently his wallet and everything, and Medicare card and all 0:01:40.241 --> 0:01:42.440 that sort of thing. We're still in his room, plus 0:01:42.521 --> 0:01:45.080 his new coach he'd brought to go home for Christmas, 0:01:45.161 --> 0:01:47.841 and his little dog and his car and everything was 0:01:47.881 --> 0:01:50.721 all left there at the main road place. I don't 0:01:50.721 --> 0:01:53.441 know what happened to his car that one the men 0:01:53.521 --> 0:01:55.761 took his real dog, I think, but his money and 0:01:55.801 --> 0:01:59.561 everything was still there that had never been touched, his Medicare. 0:02:00.561 --> 0:02:03.601 In an earlier episode, we met Susie, who runs leve 0:02:03.761 --> 0:02:06.401 light on Ink, a face book community of people who 0:02:06.441 --> 0:02:10.161 share a common goal of helping find long term missing persons. 0:02:11.121 --> 0:02:14.001 It's important to Susie as her eleven year old sister 0:02:14.081 --> 0:02:17.321 Joanne went missing in nineteen seventy three and has never 0:02:17.361 --> 0:02:22.321 been found. Head back to here Susie's story if you 0:02:22.321 --> 0:02:26.441 haven't heard it yet. She mentions that dealing with a 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:29.960 long term missing person not only affects family and friends 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:32.601 at the time the person goes missing, but it can 0:02:32.641 --> 0:02:34.241 affect future generations. 0:02:36.201 --> 0:02:39.800 It affects generations to come, not just the immediate of 0:02:39.921 --> 0:02:44.641 the family that has experienced it now but when they 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:49.521 go missing, but in future generations, even those kids have 0:02:49.841 --> 0:02:53.481 known that missing person. They grow up learning so much 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:59.001 about it and affects them still emditionally and mentally. 0:03:01.361 --> 0:03:05.361 This comment really connected with me. It connected with me 0:03:05.641 --> 0:03:09.561 on a few levels. On one level, it shows the 0:03:09.601 --> 0:03:14.041 true impact when someone goes missing they are someone's son, daughter, 0:03:14.481 --> 0:03:18.881 best friend, partner, or sibling. But it connected with me 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:25.321 on a much deeper and more personal level. You see, 0:03:25.881 --> 0:03:28.841 up to this point in the podcast, I've been talking 0:03:28.841 --> 0:03:32.800 about Desmond Carr, a man whoever forty years ago went 0:03:32.881 --> 0:03:36.721 missing from a deserted stretch of road in outback Western Australia. 0:03:38.561 --> 0:03:42.241 He was the brother of Shirley, Joy and Gwen. He 0:03:42.321 --> 0:03:47.601 was the son of Dolly and Frank, but he was 0:03:47.641 --> 0:03:55.561 also my uncle, Uncle Dev. I share a lot with 0:03:55.641 --> 0:03:59.481 my uncle Dev. We're about the same height, the same build, 0:03:59.801 --> 0:04:03.641 and the same receding hairline. My mummy is Shirley, and 0:04:03.761 --> 0:04:07.561 Joy and Gwen are my aunties, and DES's mum and 0:04:07.641 --> 0:04:14.681 dad were my grandma and grandpap. Uncle Dez as i'll 0:04:14.721 --> 0:04:17.241 call him from now on in this story, went missing 0:04:17.401 --> 0:04:20.881 when I was ten years old. We weren't necessarily close, 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:24.440 but I remember him well to me as a ten 0:04:24.521 --> 0:04:27.400 year old. He was a tall, lanky man. He was 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:30.001 pretty quiet and not the sort of uncle you play 0:04:30.041 --> 0:04:32.721 football with in the backyard. But he was my uncle, 0:04:32.841 --> 0:04:37.481 and more importantly, he was my mum's brother. I still 0:04:37.521 --> 0:04:39.880 have a vivid image of him sitting on the front 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:43.200 step of my Grandma and Grandpop's house in Leedaville in 0:04:43.281 --> 0:04:47.080 Western Australia at Christmas in his orange top and black 0:04:47.121 --> 0:04:50.681 shorts as we gathered for one of Grandma's famous Sunday 0:04:50.801 --> 0:04:56.241 roasts with soggy vegetables. It's the same photo you'll see 0:04:56.241 --> 0:05:00.121 in the cover art. That photo has been etched in 0:05:00.241 --> 0:05:03.840 my family's mind for the last forty years and pinned 0:05:04.001 --> 0:05:09.121 to missing persons all over Australia for the last thirty years. 0:05:09.361 --> 0:05:13.520 Uncle Devz has always been brought up in conversations. When 0:05:13.521 --> 0:05:16.081 I was recording with my mum Shirley for this podcast, 0:05:16.681 --> 0:05:19.520 my memories of the conversations that we had over the 0:05:19.561 --> 0:05:23.081 past thirty years were the basis of most of my research. 0:05:24.561 --> 0:05:28.640 I'm not an investigative reporter. I don't have any journalistic background, 0:05:29.121 --> 0:05:32.481 but I do have memories. Memories of my mum crying 0:05:32.481 --> 0:05:35.161 a lot when I was young. She wouldn't do it 0:05:35.241 --> 0:05:37.961 much around my brothers and me, but she would be sad. 0:05:39.361 --> 0:05:42.241 It's the sort of sadness that may have faded over time, 0:05:42.721 --> 0:05:45.601 but it's still there when we talk about Uncle Dev's. 0:05:47.121 --> 0:05:49.640 When I first recorded Mum over a cup of tea 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:53.481 about twelve months ago in Perth, Mum was stressed and 0:05:53.561 --> 0:05:54.281 still sad. 0:05:56.041 --> 0:06:00.561 I don't missing and missing and is probably it's under 0:06:00.801 --> 0:06:04.561 missing and presumed dead. That's that's what the last thing 0:06:04.601 --> 0:06:05.081 I ever. 0:06:05.521 --> 0:06:07.881 Yeah, do you think about him still now? 0:06:07.921 --> 0:06:09.760 Of course? Yeah. Yeah. 0:06:10.281 --> 0:06:12.440 If I'm watching TV of a night time and you 0:06:12.521 --> 0:06:17.761 see something, you know it looks like this, but I'm 0:06:17.801 --> 0:06:21.121 thinking of at that time what he looked like then, 0:06:21.561 --> 0:06:24.401 and nobody would know what he looked right now if 0:06:24.401 --> 0:06:28.361 he watched it alive, you know what I mean. But yeah, 0:06:28.361 --> 0:06:32.201 it's a terrible feeling. You never forget it never. 0:06:34.201 --> 0:06:36.801 That's really good, Yeah, very good. 0:06:37.401 --> 0:06:40.241 And that's just what I was scared of all right 0:06:40.361 --> 0:06:42.681 last night I thought they don't start crying. 0:06:44.161 --> 0:06:47.161 It's hard to imagine having a missing person in your family. 0:06:48.001 --> 0:06:51.161 I now have three kids, a boy who is nineteen 0:06:51.521 --> 0:06:53.921 and strangely enough, is about to head up to our 0:06:54.001 --> 0:06:57.241 back Western Australia to work in the minds and two 0:06:57.241 --> 0:07:00.881 twin girls who are ten, the same age I was 0:07:01.121 --> 0:07:05.121 when Uncle Deaz went missing. My girls didn't really know 0:07:05.201 --> 0:07:08.801 the story about my uncle Daz. But one day, as 0:07:08.801 --> 0:07:11.601 I was preparing to write an episode, they asked me 0:07:11.641 --> 0:07:14.321 what I was doing, so I thought I should tell 0:07:14.361 --> 0:07:19.921 them about him and what happened. They had so many questions, 0:07:20.201 --> 0:07:23.521 as most ten year olds do. I was ten when 0:07:23.601 --> 0:07:27.481 DEAs went missing. I can only imagine what questions I had. 0:07:28.761 --> 0:07:30.761 Did I ask them of my mum? Or was I 0:07:30.841 --> 0:07:33.401 afraid that if I did, she'd be sadder than she 0:07:33.481 --> 0:07:37.161 already was. I think for a long time as a kid, 0:07:37.281 --> 0:07:39.801 we just stayed away from the topic of Uncle Dave's 0:07:40.321 --> 0:07:43.761 so as not to upset mum. My daughter Holly, who 0:07:43.801 --> 0:07:47.281 was younger by a minute than her sister Amelia, explains 0:07:47.281 --> 0:07:49.201 what she remembers about the story. 0:07:51.041 --> 0:07:56.761 He was going on a roll. They normally dropped them 0:07:56.801 --> 0:07:59.441 off and picked her up, and he took a lunch 0:07:59.521 --> 0:08:02.681 in his awards bottle, and they went back to pick 0:08:02.761 --> 0:08:06.441 him up, and he wasn't there, but his lunch, his 0:08:06.881 --> 0:08:11.521 role thing. He was still rolling, but his lunch, his 0:08:12.601 --> 0:08:17.001 sandwich or his lunch was still there. And this Wade 0:08:17.041 --> 0:08:19.801 Butter was still there, but he wasn't there. 0:08:20.681 --> 0:08:23.201 Her memory of my uncle Dav's going missing from what 0:08:23.241 --> 0:08:25.681 I told her a month or so before this recording, 0:08:25.921 --> 0:08:29.401 was very clear. I guess because it's such a mystery, 0:08:29.801 --> 0:08:33.281 it's not something you easily forget, and kid's minds are 0:08:33.321 --> 0:08:37.921 super inquisitive. My girls are the same age as I 0:08:38.121 --> 0:08:41.321 was when Das went missing. My memories of how I 0:08:41.361 --> 0:08:44.481 felt have faded, but hearing it from my kid's mouths 0:08:44.761 --> 0:08:47.041 helps bring back some of the questions I might have 0:08:47.121 --> 0:08:51.081 had as a ten year old. So what does a 0:08:51.121 --> 0:08:52.361 ten year old thing happened? 0:08:53.721 --> 0:08:58.721 Someone might have taken him and murdered him. 0:08:58.521 --> 0:09:02.441 Or so if someone murdered him, what would we expect 0:09:02.481 --> 0:09:04.161 to find if someone murdered him. 0:09:05.681 --> 0:09:06.281 Like him? 0:09:06.641 --> 0:09:10.921 Yeah, but he was never found, So what else could 0:09:10.921 --> 0:09:11.361 have happened? 0:09:12.321 --> 0:09:15.601 Someone might have told him to work for him and 0:09:15.681 --> 0:09:18.641 if he doesn't in a different country, and if he 0:09:18.761 --> 0:09:23.161 doesn't do it, then he would die. They would kill him. 0:09:23.721 --> 0:09:26.761 What do you think if I told you a UFO 0:09:26.761 --> 0:09:28.761 took my uncle Daz, what would you think about me? 0:09:29.921 --> 0:09:32.401 I would think A part of that is sure, and 0:09:32.481 --> 0:09:36.041 post that's not true, like they're part of its toure? 0:09:36.121 --> 0:09:42.201 Is that someone in a like a spaceship or a 0:09:42.281 --> 0:09:46.081 plane took him, but maybe it wasn't a UFO. 0:09:48.161 --> 0:09:53.321 It is highly unlikely a UFO took my uncle Daz. However, 0:09:53.521 --> 0:09:56.561 around the same time as Daz went missing, there were 0:09:56.601 --> 0:10:00.321 at least five reported sightings of UFOs. 0:09:59.801 --> 0:10:00.401 In the area. 0:10:01.401 --> 0:10:06.561 Australian police are stumped after they captured bizarre footage of 0:10:06.601 --> 0:10:12.721 what appears to be an unidentified flying object. Police couldn't 0:10:12.761 --> 0:10:18.001 help but notice the rather unusual object upon reviewing vision 0:10:18.441 --> 0:10:21.201 of a storm that erupted over a beach in the 0:10:21.241 --> 0:10:24.601 town of Broom. The video, posted on Twitter by the 0:10:24.641 --> 0:10:29.201 Broom Police Department has many speculating on what exactly it 0:10:29.201 --> 0:10:29.561 could be. 0:10:33.401 --> 0:10:37.281 Outside of the theories of my uncle DES's disappearance, my 0:10:37.361 --> 0:10:41.201 ten year old daughter Holly also explained how she would feel, 0:10:41.361 --> 0:10:44.361 which helps me understand what I may have been going through. 0:10:45.241 --> 0:10:49.721 How would you feel if your sister just vanished. 0:10:51.241 --> 0:10:54.001 Upset and I'll try and find her? 0:10:55.041 --> 0:10:57.041 What would you do? How would you try and find her? 0:10:57.801 --> 0:11:03.281 I would look like where like she would go in 0:11:03.521 --> 0:11:07.521 like this spot? State you would find her like that, 0:11:07.881 --> 0:11:11.841 like likes what's that you know? Like if school or 0:11:12.881 --> 0:11:14.201 like a park? 0:11:14.721 --> 0:11:16.881 So you would go to the regular spot, so you 0:11:16.961 --> 0:11:20.001 think your sister would be to see if she was there? 0:11:21.241 --> 0:11:22.441 Where would you stop looking? 0:11:23.721 --> 0:11:28.321 I would stop looking when like, I've looked everywhere and 0:11:28.561 --> 0:11:29.521 I still can't. 0:11:29.361 --> 0:11:33.241 Find And how would you feel if you've looked everywhere, 0:11:33.921 --> 0:11:36.561 all of her regular places, everywhere where you think it 0:11:36.601 --> 0:11:39.881 could have happened, and you she still wasn't there? 0:11:40.001 --> 0:11:41.081 Upset? 0:11:42.681 --> 0:11:46.121 What do you think people should think now that it's 0:11:46.161 --> 0:11:49.481 been forty years since my uncle Das went missing where 0:11:49.561 --> 0:11:50.801 my mum's mother went missing. 0:11:52.721 --> 0:11:58.881 I would say, look out, maybe posters up telling him 0:11:58.921 --> 0:12:03.521 what he looks like, and I would like text all 0:12:03.561 --> 0:12:06.841 the people I know it's them a picture what he 0:12:07.001 --> 0:12:10.041 looks like to look out for him. 0:12:10.641 --> 0:12:13.561 It's so sweet hearing my daughter and how she would 0:12:13.561 --> 0:12:16.561 solve this mystery. I'm guessing as a ten year old 0:12:16.601 --> 0:12:21.241 back in nineteen eighty I would have had the same feelings. Mum, 0:12:21.481 --> 0:12:23.521 why don't you just look for him and surely you'll 0:12:23.561 --> 0:12:27.521 find him. They did at least six months of countless 0:12:27.521 --> 0:12:34.241 searches across hundreds of kilometers of bushland. Nothing. Mum, why 0:12:34.321 --> 0:12:37.121 not put some pictures up of uncle Davs. We have 0:12:38.041 --> 0:12:41.641 des is still on the Australian Missing Person's Register. His 0:12:41.761 --> 0:12:46.041 disappearance was investigated by the police, main roads and even 0:12:46.081 --> 0:12:49.161 a few private detectives that my pop and grandma hired, 0:12:49.561 --> 0:12:55.001 and nothing ever found. My family appeared in newspapers and 0:12:55.081 --> 0:12:58.681 TV shows to talk about Uncle Davs and his disappearance, 0:12:59.001 --> 0:13:02.681 but to no avail. They wish it was as simple 0:13:02.881 --> 0:13:09.841 as just telling people and hope someone saw something. For 0:13:09.881 --> 0:13:12.761 the last thirty years, since I was a full grown adult, 0:13:13.201 --> 0:13:15.801 I've always wanted to be able to do something to help. 0:13:17.641 --> 0:13:21.521 Do I think this podcast will find Dez, No, I don't. 0:13:24.561 --> 0:13:26.921 I think it can bring awareness to Dez being missing, 0:13:27.441 --> 0:13:30.961 but also the amazing work that people like Susie Ratcliffe 0:13:31.001 --> 0:13:34.481 and the police and Missing persons departments do at trying 0:13:34.521 --> 0:13:41.281 to find the answers. I did this for my family. 0:13:41.601 --> 0:13:45.041 My mum, Shirley, has mild dementia and she's in her seventies. 0:13:45.481 --> 0:13:48.641 My Auntie Joy is also aging, and I wanted to 0:13:48.681 --> 0:13:52.081 create this podcast as a living memory for Dez and 0:13:52.161 --> 0:13:56.881 our family. But even more than these two very important reasons, 0:13:57.481 --> 0:14:01.321 there are over two thy five hundred long term missing 0:14:01.361 --> 0:14:07.601 persons in Australia. Multiply that number by parents siblings, friends 0:14:07.641 --> 0:14:11.321 and workmates who wake up every morning without an answer. 0:14:15.761 --> 0:14:18.961 That's also what Susie from Leave a Light on Ink wants. 0:14:20.561 --> 0:14:24.361 There would be nothing better than to be able to 0:14:24.361 --> 0:14:26.921 close the page down because there are no more long 0:14:26.961 --> 0:14:31.721 times in Australia. That would be my ultimate dream. Unfortunately, 0:14:31.721 --> 0:14:35.081 I think that's everything to happen. But we will certainly 0:14:35.961 --> 0:14:42.441 keep sharing, keep spreading the news and information about missing persons, 0:14:42.681 --> 0:14:45.361 and keep providing supports for families as long as we're 0:14:45.361 --> 0:14:45.881 going to need it. 0:14:48.401 --> 0:14:51.841 When I first wrote this podcast, I believe this would 0:14:51.841 --> 0:14:55.801 be the final episode, four short episodes as a living 0:14:55.841 --> 0:14:58.841 memory of my uncle, des for my family and to 0:14:58.881 --> 0:15:03.401 bring awareness to missing people. However, listening to the raw 0:15:03.521 --> 0:15:07.041 interview I did with detectives Argent Jude sav Wright, I 0:15:07.081 --> 0:15:10.961 heard something that I wanted to explore some more. There 0:15:11.121 --> 0:15:13.601 was something in that interview that came as a shock 0:15:13.681 --> 0:15:16.721 to me, something that I don't even think the rest 0:15:16.721 --> 0:15:17.641 of the family knew. 0:15:20.001 --> 0:15:21.361 Did you know that? No? 0:15:21.561 --> 0:15:22.201 I didn't know that. 0:15:22.761 --> 0:15:24.721 No, I didn't know that. 0:15:25.561 --> 0:15:30.161 I didn't something that required more digging and possibly a 0:15:30.201 --> 0:15:34.761 fresh lead that could give us some answers. This podcast 0:15:35.161 --> 0:15:38.521 was only ever design to be four episodes. I knew 0:15:38.521 --> 0:15:40.401 when I went into it there was a little chance 0:15:40.441 --> 0:15:45.601 of finding DEAs or any new information. My true belief 0:15:45.921 --> 0:15:48.481 is that my uncle des walked off into the bush 0:15:48.841 --> 0:15:52.121 and because of his head knock and illness, he simply died. 0:15:53.521 --> 0:15:56.721 His body was never found, but it was most likely 0:15:56.761 --> 0:16:00.401 taken by wild animals like dingoes and feral cats that 0:16:00.441 --> 0:16:04.841 live in the bush. That was until my call with 0:16:04.881 --> 0:16:08.961 the detective Sergeant Jude Severright in June of twenty nineteen. 0:16:10.601 --> 0:16:14.441 This is new information to me and my family has 0:16:14.521 --> 0:16:15.561 never heard it before. 0:16:17.241 --> 0:16:21.801 There was a witness who came forward in two thousand 0:16:21.841 --> 0:16:28.081 and fourteen who believed he saw Dez at a certain 0:16:28.161 --> 0:16:33.921 location and he provided a map of that location, and 0:16:33.921 --> 0:16:38.201 then he mentions that he went back to that location 0:16:38.561 --> 0:16:40.721 ten years later and believed he found a sock. 0:16:41.681 --> 0:16:45.161 Did this sighting? Was this was this someone that was 0:16:45.201 --> 0:16:49.001 alive that they saw Desmond alive or they thought they 0:16:49.001 --> 0:16:49.881 saw Desmond alive. 0:16:50.361 --> 0:16:54.761 I'll just clarify that. So he presented in twenty fourteen. 0:16:55.801 --> 0:16:58.361 The information that he stated is that he believes what 0:16:58.361 --> 0:17:01.961 he saw someone who looked like Dez when he was driving. 0:17:02.041 --> 0:17:03.881 He was driving a truck about one hundred k's out 0:17:03.881 --> 0:17:06.801 of broom when he believes he saw the missing person 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:09.600 walking along the road. This was back at the time 0:17:10.321 --> 0:17:12.200 of when Des went missing. 0:17:12.441 --> 0:17:13.960 Okay, sure, so back. 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:17.160 Then, yep, he believed he saw him. He didn't stop 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:20.600 at the time he drove past with his truck. And 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:24.441 then approximately ten years later, whilst he was going past 0:17:24.441 --> 0:17:27.721 this same particular spot, so back in like nineteen eighty nine, 0:17:29.041 --> 0:17:32.161 he stopped and he's walked around the area and he's 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:36.401 found an old black and white sop And then he 0:17:37.961 --> 0:17:41.400 for some reason did not report this to police at 0:17:41.441 --> 0:17:43.600 the time, and then reported it in twenty fourteen this 0:17:43.801 --> 0:17:47.521 information and he advised it it was due to his 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:49.521 memory loss. 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:50.880 Wow. 0:17:51.321 --> 0:17:53.561 So he presented this map that he drew a map 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:56.681 of the area and dropped that off to the police. 0:17:56.880 --> 0:17:59.360 You may not have this information, but was that map 0:17:59.921 --> 0:18:03.640 actually anywhere near where Des originally went missing. 0:18:04.481 --> 0:18:08.720 It's that area. Apparently he also believes he may have 0:18:09.041 --> 0:18:12.360 seen him around Sanfhire Road house the day before. 0:18:15.041 --> 0:18:17.360 You can hear in my call with the detective that 0:18:17.481 --> 0:18:21.440 I was confused about what happened. It was really more shock. 0:18:21.721 --> 0:18:24.440 My mind went straight to I have to tell mum 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:28.681 about this. Information, but at the same time, I didn't 0:18:28.681 --> 0:18:32.041 want to fill her with any hope. So let's just 0:18:32.120 --> 0:18:40.001 recap what I heard. In twenty fourteen, a man came 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:42.921 forward to police to say that back on August two, 0:18:43.120 --> 0:18:46.761 nineteen seventy nine, he saw a man that he believes 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:50.241 was des walking along the stretch of highway where he 0:18:50.321 --> 0:18:56.441 went missing. Ten years later, in nineteen eighty nine, that 0:18:56.561 --> 0:18:59.600 same man went back to the same stretch of road 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:02.641 and found a black and white sock in the bushes 0:19:02.681 --> 0:19:06.761 surrounding that area, a sock which he believes was my 0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:13.640 uncle De's. Then, in twenty fourteen, he finally reports it 0:19:13.681 --> 0:19:16.840 to the police and draws them a map where he 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:21.240 believes he saw Dez. This map was very close to 0:19:21.281 --> 0:19:27.360 where Dez went missing. When police asked him why it 0:19:27.400 --> 0:19:31.120 took thirty years to come forward, he had said he 0:19:31.201 --> 0:19:38.840 had issues with his memory. The first thing I felt 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:42.281 compelled to do after hearing this new information was to 0:19:42.321 --> 0:19:45.080 tell my wife when I got home, and her first 0:19:45.080 --> 0:19:48.721 thought was who was this guy? Did he have something 0:19:48.761 --> 0:19:52.281 to do with Uncle Dez's disappearance. Could he have killed him, 0:19:52.481 --> 0:19:57.721 either on purpose or accidentally, or was this man actually 0:19:57.761 --> 0:20:03.280 my uncle Deaz? The man that came forward's name has 0:20:03.321 --> 0:20:06.321 been redacted from the police report, but as it was 0:20:06.360 --> 0:20:09.161 only five years ago, there is a chance this man 0:20:09.241 --> 0:20:11.960 is still living and may no more than he has 0:20:12.041 --> 0:20:16.121 come forward with. My hope is that this podcast might 0:20:16.160 --> 0:20:19.321 open up some more questions with this strange occurrence from 0:20:19.321 --> 0:20:24.041 this man. It does feel very suss. It's played on 0:20:24.120 --> 0:20:27.360 my mind since I heard the information. Police at the 0:20:27.400 --> 0:20:31.161 time didn't believe the information was credible, although we heard 0:20:31.241 --> 0:20:34.321 that the map the man drew detailed the place where 0:20:34.360 --> 0:20:38.961 DEAs went missing and the timing of his disappearance. It's 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:41.680 unclear if the sock that the man said he found 0:20:42.001 --> 0:20:44.640 was from my uncle Dave's, as it was never recovered. 0:20:46.201 --> 0:20:49.041 I have no issue with the police investigation into my 0:20:49.120 --> 0:20:54.001 uncle Dev's disappearance forty years ago. However, this does feel 0:20:54.041 --> 0:20:59.401 like new information that should be thoroughly investigated. Was there 0:20:59.441 --> 0:21:02.160 ever a colonial in quest into this back in the 0:21:02.281 --> 0:21:03.160 seventies and eighties. 0:21:03.840 --> 0:21:06.721 I don't believe this matter has gone before the Coroner 0:21:08.120 --> 0:21:12.961 broughor to mid nineteen nineties from what I understand from 0:21:13.041 --> 0:21:15.080 that date of the change in the Coroner's Act where 0:21:15.640 --> 0:21:24.200 the kinner wouldn't necessarily hold an inquest without an actual body. 0:21:24.281 --> 0:21:26.840 So I don't believe that a lot of matters didn't 0:21:26.921 --> 0:21:32.561 go to the coroner without without a physical physical body 0:21:33.721 --> 0:21:34.720 as deceased person. 0:21:37.241 --> 0:21:39.840 I struggled with what to do with this newfound information. 0:21:40.400 --> 0:21:42.561 I was mindful that I didn't want to clutch its 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:45.680 straws and didn't want to build a story out of nothing. 0:21:46.481 --> 0:21:48.880 For me, this was less about having some sort of 0:21:48.961 --> 0:21:52.561 podcast plot twists, but it does feel like this information 0:21:52.761 --> 0:21:58.720 should at least be followed up. I also struggled with 0:21:58.761 --> 0:22:02.281 whether to tell my mum, Shirley, about this information. Mum 0:22:02.481 --> 0:22:05.640 is in the seventies and suffers from mild dementia, and 0:22:05.681 --> 0:22:08.801 I didn't want to cause her any undue stress, but 0:22:09.241 --> 0:22:12.321 she had to know. This is a call the mum 0:22:12.360 --> 0:22:15.120 that I recorded on my phone just before leaving to 0:22:15.201 --> 0:22:17.680 work the day after I spoke to the detective. 0:22:22.201 --> 0:22:27.840 So you know how I'm doing that podcast? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, 0:22:27.921 --> 0:22:31.561 I spoke to the missing persons in Perth. Yeah, so 0:22:31.640 --> 0:22:34.961 I spoke to the man. Well, I emailed the guy 0:22:35.080 --> 0:22:39.160 who was the investigating officer back in nineteen seventy nine. Yes, 0:22:39.481 --> 0:22:42.281 I believe it or not. His name was dead too. Yeah, 0:22:42.880 --> 0:22:47.041 that's just yeah an hedyly two now, so he's left 0:22:47.041 --> 0:22:49.640 the plage for But he then put me in touch 0:22:49.721 --> 0:22:54.041 with the missing person zero in Perth now and they 0:22:54.080 --> 0:22:57.160 were able to pull the file from Uncle Jav back 0:22:57.241 --> 0:23:02.080 from the Really. Yeah, so I've got all this information 0:23:02.160 --> 0:23:04.400 and a bit that came up that I wanted to 0:23:04.441 --> 0:23:06.880 talk to you about up was and I don't know 0:23:06.880 --> 0:23:10.761 if you know this. In two thousand and fourteen, a 0:23:10.880 --> 0:23:14.840 man came forward to the police and said that back 0:23:14.880 --> 0:23:18.521 in nineteen seventy nine he saw a man that looked 0:23:18.561 --> 0:23:21.681 like Uncle Dev who was walking away from the tractor 0:23:21.880 --> 0:23:25.001 on the road about a kilometer from where the roller was. 0:23:26.840 --> 0:23:30.761 So then that same bloke that saw Uncle Dev, ten 0:23:30.840 --> 0:23:35.120 years later, after all that happened, he went back to 0:23:35.160 --> 0:23:37.761 that same part of the road and on the side 0:23:37.761 --> 0:23:40.600 of the road he found a sock that he thought 0:23:40.761 --> 0:23:45.760 Uncle Davi's. Did you know that? No, I didn't know that. 0:23:46.801 --> 0:23:50.761 No he didn't know that. No I didn't. So then 0:23:51.080 --> 0:23:55.120 he's taken twenty five years to come forward to police, 0:23:55.160 --> 0:23:59.360 and he only told police this in two thousand and fourteen, and. 0:23:59.640 --> 0:24:01.601 It neither should have really been. 0:24:01.441 --> 0:24:04.961 Brought out, you know what I mean? Well, this is 0:24:05.360 --> 0:24:08.321 it reckons that he found the sock from under dead 0:24:08.961 --> 0:24:11.521 the entre of that of where he found it and 0:24:11.640 --> 0:24:15.200 gave it to the police, the police for me that 0:24:16.721 --> 0:24:19.120 and the police have never investigated. 0:24:18.441 --> 0:24:22.401 It that I know of, because when when passed away, 0:24:22.321 --> 0:24:24.521 it's a very pep. We'll put your name in it, 0:24:24.721 --> 0:24:28.960 and you know because Gwen's dechief, so you was the 0:24:29.041 --> 0:24:31.321 next one. But I've never even heard anything. 0:24:32.441 --> 0:24:37.240 It's crazy. They've never investigated this guy, and so mine questions. 0:24:37.521 --> 0:24:39.001 Did this guy have something to do with it? 0:24:39.160 --> 0:24:42.201 Nothing to deal with it? And he's had a feet just. 0:24:42.201 --> 0:24:43.721 Have them to get. 0:24:43.521 --> 0:24:44.521 The body out. 0:24:45.840 --> 0:24:48.921 But even though only you and I talk about it now. 0:24:48.840 --> 0:24:52.201 You know, she said, I still dream she would really 0:24:52.481 --> 0:24:58.041 shod food telling me that now there. 0:24:56.600 --> 0:25:00.721 Is genuine surprise your mum's voice, especially around the sock 0:25:00.801 --> 0:25:04.400 that was found, you can tell that is new information. 0:25:05.640 --> 0:25:08.721 Her first thought is exactly what I thought and my 0:25:08.880 --> 0:25:11.321 wife thought when I mentioned it to her for the 0:25:11.400 --> 0:25:14.960 first time. Did this guy have something to do with 0:25:15.001 --> 0:25:19.961 the disappearance? Why was this not followed up more? Why 0:25:20.120 --> 0:25:23.160 was the family not notified about this piece of information, 0:25:23.281 --> 0:25:30.561 which seems to open up even more questions. The only 0:25:30.640 --> 0:25:33.360 real truth lies in the police report from over forty 0:25:33.441 --> 0:25:37.041 years ago, and more recently, what was documented in twenty 0:25:37.201 --> 0:25:41.921 fourteen when this man came forward. So my emailed detective 0:25:42.001 --> 0:25:45.360 Jude Severright from Missing Persons wa in the hope that 0:25:45.441 --> 0:25:47.721 she might be able to shed some light on some 0:25:47.761 --> 0:25:51.921 of the questions that now occupied my mind. We took 0:25:51.921 --> 0:25:54.400