Found Deceased Australia - Gary Tweddle, 23, Blue Mountains NSW, 16 July 2013 - #3

[Xantara]

I also recall that someone had posted a comment upthread (on one of the previous threads), when some photos of the recovery operation were put up, that they thought they could see a pink and purple shirt in the area where the police were doing the recovery. I've tried to go back over those photos, and don't remember who made that comment, but have not found the one in relation to which that observation was made...

 

[FigTree]

Yeah – nah – I don’t know. I’ve looked and looked and looked at this video from the 27sec mark to the 35sec mark.

I do see a cliff edge jutting above Gary at the 34sec mark, which wasn’t apparent in other photos, but I also see trees/bushes/scrub on that jutting cliff. Wish we could see more of the terrain higher up. The angles of all the different footage from all the different news stations makes nothing look quite the same.

People who have visited the area have commented that they can’t see how he got there. I’d like to see what they saw.

Sure you can’t rent a helicopter, FigTree, and do a flyover for us? Maybe get the LAC to put a big X on the spot first? :biggrin:

I have some pictures, but not on this computer ...I will get them tomorrow and put as many photos and screen shots together as I can, and then see if we can try and find the location?

 

[SouthAussie]

I have some pictures, but not on this computer ...I will get them tomorrow and put as many photos and screen shots together as I can, and then see if we can try and find the location?

Sounds wonderful. Thank you. (If there was a WS merit badge, I'd nominate you. )

 

[Derryn Hunch]

I'm very clear on where be was found, I'm going to jump on my laptop and pull these photos up... Its easy to match them against photos - what isn't easy is working out how Gary got there and what the chances were of him just happening to fall/land where he did.

 

[Derryn Hunch]

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - Found Deceased Australia - Gary Tweddle, 23, Fairmont Resort Leura, Blue Mountains, 16 July 2013 -#2

 

[fruity]

There is an article I found which mentions Gary (before he was found), and it is from the perspective of Police and Rescuers It mentions many search cases of people who have been lost in the Australian Bush. It also tells Prahbhdeep Srawns story -
Well worth the read...




.

That was an excellent article, thanks for sharing. I thought the bit about the public reading more into things than they should (and unfounded accusations of crime) really stood out.

I spoke to my friend from the nsw police dog unit and our conversation was similar to the content in the article - she said that the number of undiscovered bodies in the Blue Mountains is thought by police to be very, very high. She also said that it was a miracle Gary's body was found at all.

 

[SouthAussie]

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - Found Deceased Australia - Gary Tweddle, 23, Fairmont Resort Leura, Blue Mountains, 16 July 2013 -#2

Thanks very much MaYHeM ... so, to me, that looks like he could have traversed down a steeply sloped 30m of thick scrub, then off a shortish portion of cliff to his landing place.

Is that what you are thinking? If so, I can see why the area visitors are not understanding how he got there. Unless he came from a different direction, as HAL9000 suggested, and somehow made his way over to the area in which he was found.

I sure hope the investigators have been able to find his pathway through, from broken shrubs, otherwise this could remain a puzzling mystery forever!

 

[Derryn Hunch]

Thanks very much MaYHeM ... so, to me, that looks like he could have traversed down a steeply sloped 30m of thick scrub, then off a shortish portion of cliff to his landing place.

Is that what you are thinking? If so, I can see why the area visitors are not understanding how he got there.

I sure hope the investigators have been able to find his pathway through, from broken shrubs, otherwise this could remain a puzzling mystery forever!

Yep, that's my thoughts - seems like surely he would have realized long before he got to the cliff edge that things were (pardon the pun) looking a bit 'down hill' and changed course... And that aside, Damn... What's the chances of him falling off the edge of a cliff at pretty much the only section where there was a ledge 20m below to break an otherwise 300m fall?

 

[H A L 9 0 0 0]

I'd previously been under the impression that once leaving the access track at the top, that it was only a matter of metres before a sheer drop off.

But as it sounds like a steep slope with plenty of woody vegetation to grab hold of, or to break a fall, I'm even less convinced by the accidental fall theory (or a deliberate jump for that matter).

"Wedged in a crevice in a tree," sounds more like a deliberately selected hiding place than a random fall spot. It depends how wide this crevice is and if it's the kind of thing a person could accidentally step into at the point it opens up. At which point I ask the question why make the effort to clamber 20 metres down the slope in the first place?

And if accidentally stepping or slipping into the mouth of the crevice is the case, then the distance to the tree branches below would have to be far enough to mortally injure, because although it was coolish, according to locals it was relatively mild, so I'm unsure as to whether hypothermia would have necessarily caused death. In which case you'd think a trapped person would be yelling out all night and sounds would be echoing all through the canyon. Perhaps that was the source of the 'cooee' that was reported during the night.

I hope police thoroughly scoured that whole slope to try to find the phone, as it seems like the most likely place for it to have fallen out of a pocket or been dropped.

Just wondering if maybe the images of the area that have been released have been deliberately hard to pinpoint the exact location. Authorities wouldn't want random people wandering about sightseeing putting themselves at risk, or contaminating the scene or whatever.

 

[SouthAussie]

I'd previously been under the impression that once leaving the access track at the top, that it was only a matter of metres before a sheer drop off.

But as it sounds like a steep slope with plenty of woody vegetation to grab hold of, or to break a fall, I'm even less convinced by the accidental fall theory (or a deliberate jump for that matter).

"Wedged in a crevice in a tree," sounds more like a deliberately selected hiding place than a random fall spot. It depends how wide this crevice is and if it's the kind of thing a person could accidentally step into at the point it opens up. At which point I ask the question why make the effort to clamber 20 metres down the slope in the first place?

And if accidentally stepping or slipping into the mouth of the crevice is the case, then the distance to the tree branches below would have to be far enough to mortally injure, because although it was coolish, according to locals it was relatively mild, so I'm unsure as to whether hypothermia would have necessarily caused death. In which case you'd think a trapped person would be yelling out all night and sounds would be echoing all through the canyon. Perhaps that was the source of the 'cooee' that was reported during the night.

I hope police thoroughly scoured that whole slope to try to find the phone, as it seems like the most likely place for it to have fallen out of a pocket or been dropped.

Just wondering if maybe the images of the area that have been released have been deliberately hard to pinpoint the exact location. Authorities wouldn't want random people wandering about sightseeing putting themselves at risk, or contaminating the scene or whatever.

BBM

I agree HAL9000. And I think that police could have avoided the ‘sightseeing’ and public speculation that is definitely happening if they had released a bit more info than “it was misadventure, now don’t speculate”. This is 2013. No-one is asking for full details, just a level of information that provides some kind of understanding to the public as to how Gary got there.

Unless they don’t know? In which case, how are they so sure it was misadventure? As I’ve stated ad nauseam previously, even Gary’s loved ones don’t use the words 'misadventure' or 'accident' when speaking of the night Gary went missing.

 

[Derryn Hunch]

What annoys me is, they ask for public assistance in helping them find Gary, but hold back information!?

They had hundreds, if not thousands of people out there helping to look for the guy - volunteers on their own time - but they held back vital information that clearly from discussion in this thread, could have assisted.

 

[FigTree]

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - Found Deceased Australia - Gary Tweddle, 23, Fairmont Resort Leura, Blue Mountains, 16 July 2013 -#2

Thanks MaYHeM - that was one of the pics I was looking for from you! Cheers!

 

[Lexis]

I spoke to my friend from the nsw police dog unit and our conversation was similar to the content in the article - she said that the number of undiscovered bodies in the Blue Mountains is thought by police to be very, very high. She also said that it was a miracle Gary's body was found at all.

Wow, many undiscovered bodies!

That suggests to me that the dogs are not equipped to do their job in the Blue Mountains or if they are equipped then they are not being employed on the searches....... please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Lexis]

I also recall that someone had posted a comment upthread (on one of the previous threads), when some photos of the recovery operation were put up, that they thought they could see a pink and purple shirt in the area where the police were doing the recovery. I've tried to go back over those photos, and don't remember who made that comment, but have not found the one in relation to which that observation was made...

That was from a poster called 'Fortunate'.

 

[SouthAussie]

Wow, many undiscovered bodies!

That suggests to me that the dogs are not equipped to do their job in the Blue Mountains or if they are equipped then they are not being employed on the searches....... please correct me if I'm wrong.

It’s a worry, isn’t it? Have they all come to their end through misadventure too? :facepalm:

I’m glad a NSW coroner has raised the subject of great concern over people who have gone missing in the area. Only thing is, we don’t actually know if anything is being done about it. Is there a bit of a 'we can't do much about it' attitude?

Makes me wonder if anyone will ever know the truth behind Gary’s demise, or if it will just be listed as an assumed accident due to the lack of any other firm indicators.

 

[FigTree]

I am just bringing across 2 of Fortunate's photos from Discussion Thread #2 - they show the extraordinary effort of the Police Rescue to bring Gary to the top of the cliff.

This is a wider shot of the cliff face - you can see the definite ledges the rock formation has - this is the same afternoon.

 

[marlywings]

I also recall that someone had posted a comment upthread (on one of the previous threads), when some photos of the recovery operation were put up, that they thought they could see a pink and purple shirt in the area where the police were doing the recovery. I've tried to go back over those photos, and don't remember who made that comment, but have not found the one in relation to which that observation was made...

That was from a poster called 'Fortunate'.

Yep Fortunate posted the photos...

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - Found Deceased Australia - Gary Tweddle, 23, Fairmont Resort Leura, Blue Mountains, 16 July 2013 -#2


And Rabbit007's discussion about the photos/seeing pink shirt...

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - Found Deceased Australia - Gary Tweddle, 23, Fairmont Resort Leura, Blue Mountains, 16 July 2013 -#2

 

[SouthAussie]

Great photos, but they don't look anything like the photos of the ledge where Gary was found do they?

NSW Police Officers stand on a ledge where a body, believed to be Gary Tweddle, was found near Leura.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-...uring-the-operation-to-retrieve-what2/4931992


This is VERY confusing. They said he was found 25-30m down - the cliff is something like 174m high according to the abseilers website. Just trying to get some perspective of where the ledge is in Fortunate's photos. Must be near to the top.

 

[Derryn Hunch]

Just for reference I've circled the ledge Gary was found on from the above pics attached here..

 

[SouthAussie]

Just for reference I've circled the ledge Gary was found on from the above pics attached here..

Wow .. very close to the top. I see what you mean by him landing on about the only ledge close to the top!