Found Alive Australia - Mark, 51, & Jacoba Tromp, 53, Jenolan Caves, NSW, 30 Aug 2016

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Police confirm no threat to family, it was all in their minds: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/vi...y/news-story/cb0fb39b23d9dfe6ffd3822109ba8b14

"But Sgt Mark Knight said there was no one standing over the family, and the Tromps did not have crime links or know of anyone out to harm them.

“We can categorically say there was no one following any of them,” Sgt Knight said. “There has been no physical threat to this family at all. It was in their minds.”

61e162f74ab5924db2c8d823660fe552

Father of three Mark Tromp, a popular Silvan berry farmer. Picture: AAP Image/Victoria Police
"Police were investigating a number of reported sightings of Mr Tromp in NSW on Friday. There were also claims that Mr Tromp broke into a motel in Wangaratta on Thursday night. Owners at the Millers Cottage Motel on Wangaratta Rd found a room door ajar about 9.30am on Friday. The bathroom appeared to have been used, the bed may have been slept in and a muesli bar wrapper was on the floor."
 
Police confirm no threat to family, it was all in their minds: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/vi...y/news-story/cb0fb39b23d9dfe6ffd3822109ba8b14

"But Sgt Mark Knight said there was no one standing over the family, and the Tromps did not have crime links or know of anyone out to harm them.

“We can categorically say there was no one following any of them,” Sgt Knight said. “There has been no physical threat to this family at all. It was in their minds.”

61e162f74ab5924db2c8d823660fe552

Father of three Mark Tromp, a popular Silvan berry farmer. Picture: AAP Image/Victoria Police
"Police were investigating a number of reported sightings of Mr Tromp in NSW on Friday. There were also claims that Mr Tromp broke into a motel in Wangaratta on Thursday night. Owners at the Millers Cottage Motel on Wangaratta Rd found a room door ajar about 9.30am on Friday. The bathroom appeared to have been used, the bed may have been slept in and a muesli bar wrapper was on the floor."

I have no clue what could have caused such a delusion, but I hope they find this poor guy asap and get him some help. It would be sickening if he were to succumb to the elements or otherwise, all because of a delusion. If it was really him breaking into the hotel that encourages me a bit. First that means he's obviously still alive, but also because he's still near civilization and not out in the wilderness hiding somewhere. Much better chance of someone being able to approach him this way... if it really is him. He hasn't hurt a soul, he's just scared out of his mind, and I hope they will approach him with care, caution, and sensitivity (again, IF).
 
This case reminds me of Arthur Conan Doyle who is said to once have sent 12 telegrams to his friends as a prank. The message in every telegram simply read "All is discovered. Flee at once." All twelve friends were on their way out of the country within 24 hours, so the story goes. Might be just an urban legend though, or only partly true. But I do wonder if Mark received a message, or had a phone (or even face to face) conversation with someone, which he somehow misunderstood? He might have a secret nobody knows about. Not necessarily anything criminal, but something personal and embarrassing. Just my speculation. For what it's worth, I have one such secret, and if someone told me they would reveal it, I would also become extremely anxious and paranoid.
 
:(

This is awful. This man who is under great distress because he seems to think people are trying to find him is going to FREAK out far more because people actually are trying to find him.... Just for a different reason than whatever's in his head.

I hope he is found and gets help before he begins to become desperate. Desperate people do unforeseen, desperate things. As mentioned above, I hope he is handled with great care and compassion.
 
Jumping off from the toxin theory. I know they've been doing this a long time and I know nothing about farming methods but the Red Currant, which according to the Tromp website is what they grow, has Hydrogen Cyanide toxin in the leaves. I haven't had a chance to read the journals yet but searching Hydrogen Cyanide psychosis does return results. I wonder if long term exposure somehow made them predisposed to tipping over the edge.

http://www.phadia.com/es/5/Productos/ImmunoCAP-Allergens/Food-of-Plant-Origin/Fruits/Red-currant/

After reading everything, I think something along this line is what's going on.
 
Nothing adds up for me, I'd like to know exactly who and what time police were called Tuesday. Seems like the only one who would have was Ella, but why would she steal a car to get home rather than call the police.
I guess it's possible someone turned up at the house and thought it suspicious, finding keys in cars but no one around.
Makes no sense Rianna hiding in car, it could have been going anywhere, was she trying to get away from Ella
 
Nothing adds up for me, I'd like to know exactly who and what time police were called Tuesday. Seems like the only one who would have was Ella, but why would she steal a car to get home rather than call the police.
I guess it's possible someone turned up at the house and thought it suspicious, finding keys in cars but no one around.
Makes no sense Rianna hiding in car, it could have been going anywhere, was she trying to get away from Ella

BBM: This is the timeline from the bottom of yesterday's article. It seems NSW police called VicPol (after Riana was found) and VicPol were at their home when Ella arrived. I don't think any of the children contacted police for assistance.


WHAT WE KNOW
• Mark and Jacoba Tromp and their three adult children Mitchell, Ella and Riana leave their Silvan home on Monday, August 29
• The family left in Ella’s grey Peugeot and headed to NSW
• On Tuesday morning, Mitchell leaves the group near Bathurst and makes his way to Sydney and then catches a train to Melbourne
• Ella, Riana and parents make it to Jenolan Caves, about 150km west of Sydney
• At the caves, on Tuesday, the daughters leave their parents and make their way to Goulburn
• Ella and Riana split up at a Goulburn service station because they want to get home different ways
• Riana found under mental stress on the side of a road near Goulburn and stopped by police in her attempts to go home.
• Riana taken to hospital, where she remains
• NSW Police informs Victoria Police about the family
• Ella acquires a car, drives home and arrives at the family’s Silvan farm on Tuesday night while Victoria Police are there
• Mitchell arrives in Melbourne on Wednesday morning. At one point on the trip Mitchell admitted to having his mobile phone, but he voluntarily threw it out the window at Warburton.
• Ella’s Peugeot found in Victoria, in Wangaratta, on Wednesday night
• A man, believed to be Mark, seen running from the car.
• On Thursday, Jacoba Tromp is taken to Yass hospital by a passer-by who sees her in the NSW town
• Extensive searches of Wangaratta fail to find Mark Tromp

For those needing help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

http://www.news.com.au/national/is-...x/news-story/7b349973f3af4588002f9b21bce007d6
 
Folie a deux was already suspected by one member very early on in the thread.

That's true and I posted, very early on the thread, they could be affected by toxins used on their farm. That is, until I found out their red currants are grown without them. After that, I discovered they were under financial stress and had no history of mental illness. Being aware of more than a few mentions of the poor mental health of many Australian farmers due to drought, flooding, falls in their markets, etc; via MSM, the National Farmers Federation, state and federal agriculture ministers and our Deputy Prime Minister to name just a few, over the past decade or more; I've since changed my opinion.
 
I can't shake this feeling after readying everything that they went as a family to murder him, the dad that is. They've separated & made up these ridiculous stories to make it look like they were all separate but they've done what they had planned (this horrid deed together) out of psychosis or for insurance money. I could possibly be wrong as this is just my opinion but it's the only thing I can think of to make sense of the splitting up and the weird stories?
 
Or has he been spotted recently and I've missed something?
 
Or has he been spotted recently and I've missed something?

There has been reported sightings and they are also investigating if the person who broke into the Wangaratta Pub was Mark.


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http://www.smh.com.au/national/biza...-trip-cloaked-in-mystery-20160901-gr6ujf.html

Like most others, I find this story really bizarre.
For starters, why did the three adult children go along on this trip with the parents? Were they afraid for their parents' mental state or did they share the same state?
The son on one hand throws his phone out the car window at the insistence of the parents, but then does have the will to separate from the group at Kelso.

Snipped by me

Im putting myself in the kids shoes here if they were NOT suffering psychosis. If my parent was indeed acting this way i would stick with them to keep an eye on them and keep them safe. Although it does seem that none of them called 000 at any point even after splitting from the group. Perhaps they thought he was going to get in trouble?

My father had a breakdown once when we discovered he had extra credit cards no one knew about and had a bailiff knocking at the door ready to take everything. He had a bit of a mental break and took a huge bottle of valium with him and jumped in a car saying he thought he would be better off dead.
I jumped in that car because i knew he would do anything stupid while i was with him. And he didnt. It wasnt until later in the day we got seperated after i thought he was calmed down that i evebtually called the police because we couldnt find him.

Just MO from my own experiences.

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Snipped by me

Im putting myself in the kids shoes here if they were NOT suffering psychosis. If my parent was indeed acting this way i would stick with them to keep an eye on them and keep them safe. Although it does seem that none of them called 000 at any point even after splitting from the group. Perhaps they thought he was going to get in trouble?

My father had a breakdown once when we discovered he had extra credit cards no one knew about and had a bailiff knocking at the door ready to take everything. He had a bit of a mental break and took a huge bottle of valium with him and jumped in a car saying he thought he would be better off dead.
I jumped in that car because i knew he would do anything stupid while i was with him. And he didnt. It wasnt until later in the day we got seperated after i thought he was calmed down that i evebtually called the police because we couldnt find him.

Just MO from my own experiences.

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I think you have hit the nail in the head FS. If I was in that situation with a father who was normally well adjusted and refused to get any medical help I would go along with him. I'm imagining them all in the driveway trying to talk him down then leaping into the car as he tried to drive off. Wish we knew who was driving! Maybe Ella jumped in the drivers seat as it became obvious he wouldn't be dissuaded. There are many cases of psychotic parents who are convinced the world is evil and want to 'save' their children from it. If this is what evolved during the journey along with recriminations and old skeletons coming out of the closet that divided family loyalties then we can understand why everyone scattered.
Just my opinion.


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If they weren't all delusional, I have wondered if there was a hostage situation. Because why all go? Why not someone stay, and get them some help? Come with me or I'll shoot myself (a farmer is allowed a license for guns due to rodents), and then one by one he started making them get out of the car for delusional reasons. Mitch first, because he had snuck a phone along, even though he ditched it. He couldn't be trusted. Then the girls, for whatever infraction, perhaps just trying to convince him to return to the farm/get help - unless they bolted for their own safety. Then his wife ...

But then why didn't the kids get immediate help? Help for their mother, at least.
 
New article details how Riana was found:

Goulburn man Keith Whittaker was on his way to a doctor's appointment when he discovered Riana lying on the floor of his dual cab.

"I got to Lake George when I felt a kick to the back of my seat," Mr Whittaker told the Goulburn Post.

"I turned around and saw two legs stretched across the back between my seat and the floor. She was lying on the floor. I got an extreme shock. I pulled over in a rest area."

He said after about 20 minutes the woman sat up and just "stared straight ahead".

"I asked her if she needed any water or anything or was in any way injured and she said no," he said.

"Then I called the police. Until the police arrived, she mostly sat and stared straight ahead as if she was catatonic."

He said Ms Tromp was "a well-dressed young woman" who offered him $50 "for my trouble", which he politely declined.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...-may-not-want-to-be-found#Glbp3CsfVg2OfWPt.99
 
Mitchell sheds some light:

Mitchell Tromp, meanwhile, back at the family's home with Ella in Silvan, appeared overwhelmed on Friday by what had occurred. He said he only took the road trip with his parents – the family all work together and are very close – because they were distressed and he wanted to persuade them to turn back.

He said he threw his mobile phone out the window because they urged him to and warned they were being "tracked". When their behaviour grew worse, he chose to leave his family, he said.

It also emerged that NSW police had circulated a document internally warning the family could be suffering from group delusional schizophrenia. Mitchell Tromp told The Age there had been no diagnosis and the statement was incorrect.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/austra...gs-and-disturbing-revelations-in-bizarre-tale
 

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