A missing Kimberley man was likely met with “foul play” while on a pig hunting trip with six other men, a Queensland coroner has ruled.
Jeremiah ‘Jayo’ Rivers was last seen on October 18, 2021 at a campsite in Wippo Creek, near the remote town of Noccundra in western Queensland.
Delivering his findings in Brisbane on Thursday, Queensland Coroner Donald MacKenzie said “there was a reasonable suspicion of homicide” but he could not determine who was responsible.
“I have determined on the balance of probabilities that Jayo is deceased and was likely the victim of foul play,” he said.
But Mr MacKenzie said there was also a possibility that Mr Rivers died from natural causes, including kidney failure from heat exposure.
Jeremiah Rivers was last seen on October 18, 2021 at a campsite in Wippo Creek. (ABC Western Qld: Danielle O’Neal)
He said there were at least seven different accounts told to police by the group.
“The consistent changing narrative of Jayo’s disappearance delayed and redirected Queensland Police Service search and rescue resources into different areas,” he said.
Mr MacKenzie said “incriminating inference can be drawn suggesting ongoing collusion” between the group from QPS telephone intercepts, as well as “misleading statements” to police about the location of their campsite.
The 27-year-old Gija man was from the East Kimberley Indigenous community of Warmun.
Differing accounts for trip’s reason
The inquest last year heard some witnesses described the trip as a fishing and hunting adventure, with the restless men flouting COVID border restrictions to travel from Victoria through NSW and Queensland, towards the Northern Territory.
But by another account, it was a mission to move thousands of dollars’ worth of cannabis to Darwin and sell it to Indigenous communities.
The family’s lawyer, Stewart Levitt, suggested during the inquest last year that when Mr Rivers found out about the plan to sell cannabis during the trip, an argument ensued and he was killed.
Family members shared missing person posters to raise awareness about Jeremiah Rivers at a gathering marking the anniversary of his disappearance. (ABC Kimberley: Ted O’Connor)
But one of the men, Travis Clare, told the inquest he refuted this allegation and said the group didn’t immediately raise the alarm about Mr Rivers’s disappearance because they feared the repercussions of breaching the border.
Matthew Perris told police he received a Facebook call from his cousin, Mr Rivers, begging him to come and pick him up after a fist-fight with one of the men on the trip, Joe Joe Kantilla-Gaden.
He claimed this was after Mr Rivers found out about the drugs and “wanted out”.
Mr Kantilla-Gaden disputed the claim and denied that a fight had occurred. He said he had been attempting to stop Mr Rivers from walking off, who he alleged had been awake for multiple days, drinking and smoking methamphetamine.
‘Lies and inconsistencies’
On Thursday, Mr MacKenzie said it “would be pure speculation that all the group were involved”.
He also said the “lies and inconsistencies” could be “explained away as a means of avoiding prosecution from trafficking dangerous drugs into the Northern Territory … or the group illegally breaching COVID-19 restrictions”.
The coroner found the police search costed hundreds of thousands of dollars and was well-resourced despite the difficult terrain and weather conditions.
“The biggest hurdle to an effective, early and constructive timely search … [was that] 30 hours had elapsed before Jayo’s disappearance was officially reported.”
But he said a notebook entry by a constable about Mr Rivers going “walkabout on occasion” was “concerning”.
He also said it was “very disappointing” that “the important evidence” from Mr Perris about the Facebook call was not acted upon much sooner than early 2022.
A police investigation remains open. The coroner’s findings note that since the inquest was held, QPS has carried out a 16-day police and SES search of 68 square kilometres north-west of Noccundra.
Police and SES resumed the search for Jeremiah Rivers in May 2024. (Supplied: Queensland Police)
‘We got let down by police’
Speaking outside court on Thursday, the uncle of the missing person, Digby Rivers, said the family won’t stop searching for their loved one.
The family said they had wanted police to offer a reward for information about the disappearance of Mr Rivers.
“It’s not easy … three years and still not anything. We got let down by Queensland police,” he said.
“We are going to keep on going until we get answers.”
Police have called for anyone who saw Jeremiah Rivers around the time he went missing to come forward. (Facebook)
Mr MacKenzie recommended police consider providing training on trauma-informed communication with First Nations families when they are concerned about a missing person.
He also suggested recording the status of a missing person as “First Nations” in the missing persons risk assessment undertaken by the QPS case officers.
