Australia Australia - Prabhdeep Srawn, 25, Canadian, Snowy Mtns, NSW, 13 May 2013

[FigTree]

Cooma-Monaro Express News
Search resumes for missing bushwalker

"Now that all the snow drifts have completely melted, we will be conducting a further ground search in the week commencing 17 March," Superintendent Smith said.
-----
"We are determined to finish this search and we remain hopeful of being able to bring some news to the Srawn family.
"In saying that, we are also observant of the reality of possibly never finding Mr Srawn. It won't be without our best effort though."
-----
"We will be focusing around the Mount Townsend and lakes areas," he said.

I have all hope that the search recommencing in the next 3 days brings some results.
I think it is necessary - not only for the family - but also to keep this Missing Persons Case active.
Too often and too soon the many cases that go unresolved also lose momentum of coverage. Lets hope it wont happen with this case.
The family efforts have been extraordinary. So have all the other people and Services who have added their expertise and time to the search.
I hope after this search has concluded that Police do a Media Release and let the public know what has been happening with their search efforts.

I still feel optimistic that some clue can be uncovered as to what happened to Prabh.

Once more, Best of Luck to the searchers for the coming days.
.

 

[FigTree]

Nearly a year after his disappearance, the family of missing bushwalker Prabhdeep Srawn are not yet ready to give up on finding him alive
GOLD COAST BULLETIN MARCH 15, 2014. Read More...

THEY have spent almost a year and about $400,000 searching, but the family of missing bushwalker Prabhdeep Srawn are still no closer to finding out what happened to the 25-year-old.
-----
Speaking to the Bulletin from Toronto, Canada yesterday Mr Srawn’s cousin Ruby Singh said the Canadian Army reservist’s family would never stop searching.

“It’s difficult being out there just waiting for news and not getting anything.
“You kind of have to put everything on hold and it’s been extremely expensive.”
-----
Ms Singh said the family have been told New South Wales police will conduct a final ground search later this month now that the snow has cleared, but insisted the family would continue their private search efforts.

“I don’t know if the final search effort means they (police) will stop looking after that, that’s just how they worded it,” she said.

“We have hired a search manager, Martin Colwell, who is trying to pull together an operation, we have more volunteer searchers going out and the family will probably head back as well.

“The hardest part for us is keeping people interested in helping and finding qualified people who can go into those areas a year later.”
----------

.

 

[dotr]

:seeya: Thanks for all the great posts and updates FigTree!

Such a handsome, vibrant young man, I hope Prabhdeep Srawn is found soon!

 

[FigTree]

:bump: for Prabhdeep...

Just wondering how the Searches have been coming along over the past couple of weeks.
No news yet that I have come across in the last few days.
Still hoping to hear something.

Prayers sent.

.

 

[FigTree]

Main Stream Media - please keep Prabhdeep Srawn and his family on your journalistic radar.

We need an update on the recent searches, and if there are any searchers still in progress.

Hoping to hear some news soon.

:seeya:

 

[dotr]

I thought we might need another photo in this thread of Prabhdeep Srawn.
Missing in the Mt Kosciusko area of the Snowy Mountains NSW

Bumping for a promising young man who is lost and is waiting to be found..

 

[FigTree]

Still keeping an eye out for media reports regarding the search for Prabhdeep.

Almost a year has passed now, and in 17 days time it will the 13th of May 2014 - a year to the day Prahbdeep went missing.
Please keep the prayers and thoughts going for finding Prabhdeep, and support to his family and friends in the hope that news will come soon.

.

 

[FigTree]

Still Missing - 13th May 2013 - 2014

A year ago today on the morning of May 13, 2013 - University Law student Prabhdeep Srawn drove his rental van to the Charlotte Pass Carpark - the entrance to the The Main Range Walking Track in the Kosciuszko National Park, New South Wales Australia. Prabh planned to do a one day bushwalk on the Main Range Track which wound its way over the terrain to Mt Kosciuszko, Australia's tallest peak, and then routed back to the carpark - a good 9 hour+ walk. Prabhdeep had also wanted to include a walk to Mt Townsend - a loop track which brings the bushwalker back to the Main Range Track and onto Mt Kosciuszko.

He set out on the walk in the Alpine sunshine that day, prepared with his phone, maps and food, well clothed with a new multi-layered fleece jacket he had bought the day prior. He had water, a backpack and hiking shoes - all the necessary items, and just as well - as an unexpected storm passed over the Mountains later that day bringing with it icy rain and snow. But more than most he had his Reservist Army Cold weather Warfare skills to rely on.
It was to be a pleasant, if not chilly, beautiful walk in the Alpine Ranges in Autumn in Australia.

But... one week later,
Prabh's van was found still sitting idle in the carpark where he had left it. Untouched, and with no sign of Prabh, the alarm was raised that he was Missing - and the search began to find him.

Over the past year some small clues as to where Prabh might have gone that day have surfaced - a ping from a tower close by from his cell phone - a water bottle which may have belonged to him - footprints seen in the snow by another hiker - a shoelace which may have been discarded - all these have been investigated. The search has been intensive, and still continues - yet Prabh has still not been found
-----

I cannot remember ever hearing of a search for a Missing Person in Australia that has been so well co-ordinated, so determined and meticulous, and so enduring. Prahbs family has been instrumental in making sure that what ever resource that would help has been available to help to try to find and recover Prabh, and a year later, the search still continues.

Sending my prayers and thoughts today to Prabh and to Prabh's family.
Keeping the hope and faith that one day soon Prabh will be found, and their search will be over.

.

 

[Abstar80]

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/prabhdeepsrawn

New article on Prabhdeep....fairly interesting article.

 

[FigTree]

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/prabhdeepsrawn

New article on Prabhdeep....fairly interesting article.

Thankyou so much for posting the link Abstar80.

WOW - the article is well worth a read - I haven't seen an article like that before, with all the graphics and video and photos. Thankyou to the team at Canberra Times - SCOTT HANNAFORD AND TOM MCILROY - Photographs and video by SCOTT HANNAFORD - for the effort and the research.
I am glad the CT news organization kept reporting up to this point - especially on this one year anniversary.

A small extract from the Feature Article below:

The missing persons sign that hung for nearly a year in the window of the emergency shelter has been taken down and police have also stopped handing out flyers to bushwalkers and skiers as they enter the national park in the desperate hope than one of them, somewhere, may stumble upon an overlooked clue to one of the biggest mysteries ever played out in the high country.
-----
In his upstairs office at the imposing concrete bunker of Queanbeyan Police Station, Superintendent Rod Smith is collating a file on the search for Prabhdeep Srawn. Having spent months poring over the evidence, false leads, and reems of data from the multiple state and federal agencies involved in the search, the file will soon be handed to the NSW Coroner, even though no body or any of Srawn’s possessions have been found beyond the camper.
-----

One day, some way, somewhere, news of what happened to Prabh will surface - for his family's sake, I hope it is sooner than later.

Never give up hope - and bring the Missing Home.

.

 

[FigTree]

Canberra Times. Read More:

Calls for new search for Canadian hiker Prabhdeep Srawn lost in Snowy Mountains
May 22nd 2014

A Snowy Hydro worker involved in the 2013 search for a hiker missing in Kosciuszko National Park believes authorities may have skimmed over key pieces of evidence that point to a specific area where the man may have gone off course.
On May 22 last year, two of Mr Mulligan's colleagues were clearing access tracks around the Lady Northcotes Canyon area, when they reported over the radio they had heard a voice calling out from The Sentinel, a steep peak above.
-----
"There were so many coincidences that day, we thought for sure he was going to walk out of the scrub any minute and we'd be loading him into the back of the car."
-----
"It all points to the face of Sentinel, and if they did it properly - get a heap of people and sweep down that face two meters apart - then you'd be able to know for sure, but I don't think they'll find him unless they take another look at Sentinel," Mr Mulligan said.
-----

Back country skier Andrew Barnes looks out towards The Sentinel. Photo: Scott Hannaford

 

[FigTree]

Geo Science Map of the Sentinel Mountain Area

The Sentinel Mountain Area Map

Name: The Sentinel
Feature: Mountain
State or Territory: New South Wales
Country Code: Australia (AU)

Latitude: -36.381801605
Longitude: 148.284606933

-----

There is a creek and an Aquaduct tunnel in this area as well.
http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=10478#p139036

This is a ScreenCap pic of the Area (below)
To go to the Google Map - press the link at the top of the post.

.

 

[marlywings]

I think it's fantastic to know there are still folks in that area who are not wanting to give up on the search for Prabh.

Applause to all who continue the search in such rugged terrain.

 

[FigTree]

I think it's fantastic to know there are still folks in that area who are not wanting to give up on the search for Prabh.

Applause to all who continue the search in such rugged terrain.

I think so too marlywings.

I think Mr Mulligan and his two colleagues at least will always be searching for the rest of the time they work in the Mountains - its something that wouldn't leave you you - knowing that you heard a voice and then knowing Prabh wasn't found.
I think that will go for anyone who was involved with the search.

I wondered when the Police will be handing their report to the Coroners Office.

.

 

[FigTree]

The Australian. Read More:
More people getting lost in the Snowy Mountains... but this couple walked back to safety after spending the night in the elements.
- wind chill of -16 and 100kms winds.
They sheltered under a rock.

Bushwalkers have been reminded to take precautions at this time of year because the weather in alpine regions can turn quickly.

“We were here this time last year under similar circumstances, and unfortunately haven’t found (the bushwalker) from last year,’’ Supt Smith said.

Canadian student Prabhdeep Srawn, 25, went missing in the Snowy Mountains in May 2013.

He was last seen at Charlotte Pass village on May 13, 2013, before heading off on a bushwalk to Mt Kosciuszko.

I wonder if there has been some policy changes in the area in the way Police and S&R attend to the Missing in the Mountains, since Prabh.

.

 

[dotr]

Prabhdeep will be found eventually, let's hope it is very soon, so that his family can finally have some measure of peace!
Those people who have searched, and those who are still searching , or writing about him, are amazing!

 

[dotr]

New article, lengthy and with lots of detail, in today's Toronto Star !

http://www.thestar.com/news/insight...hiker_just_vanish_in_the_australian_bush.html

"How did a Brampton hiker just vanish in the Australian bush?
A year after his disappearance, an obsessed hiker tracks the last steps Prabhdeep Srawn took in Australia’s Snowy Mountains. And many of the clues are pointing in one direction"

" By: Ricky French Special to the Star, Published on Fri Jun 06 2014

CHARLOTTE PASS, AUSTRALIA—One year ago, a 25-year-old Brampton hiker named Prabhdeep Srawn vanished off the face of the earth.

Narrowing it down, you might say he vanished off the face of Mount Townsend, in Australia’s Snowy Mountains. Narrowing it down is a difficult thing to do in the baffling case of Prabh Srawn. So little is known of Srawn’s movements, intentions and supplies, and so lacking are the clues, that piecing together his final steps and resting place has become a game of guesswork and supposition. It has become one of Australia’s greatest ever outdoors mysteries.

Srawn was living and studying on Australia’s beach metropolis of the Gold Coast. A year ago he left the sun and surf for a touring holiday, intending to finish in Melbourne, 1,700 kilometres away. He never got there.

Only two things are known for sure: (1) he hired a van and drove it to Charlotte Pass; and (2) he never brought it back. He also never told anyone of his hiking plans. Astonishingly, the first sign Srawn was missing came when the van wasn’t returned."

 

[dotr]

:bump: for Prahb

It would be nice to see some more Main Stream Media out there to remind people that Prabh is still missing and people have not given up on finding him.
:seeya:

.

Wow! Picture on hard-cover of today's SUNDAY STAR front page. ( Ricky French )


"INTO THE WILD

Mystery of a young Brampton hiker
who vanished off the face of the earth"

.... " A keen hiker has retraced Srawn's steps to find out"

 

[FigTree]

New article, lengthy and with lots of detail, in today's Toronto Star !

http://www.thestar.com/news/insight...hiker_just_vanish_in_the_australian_bush.html

"How did a Brampton hiker just vanish in the Australian bush?
A year after his disappearance, an obsessed hiker tracks the last steps Prabhdeep Srawn took in Australia’s Snowy Mountains. And many of the clues are pointing in one direction"

" By: Ricky French Special to the Star, Published on Fri Jun 06 2014

CHARLOTTE PASS, AUSTRALIA—One year ago, a 25-year-old Brampton hiker named Prabhdeep Srawn vanished off the face of the earth.

Narrowing it down, you might say he vanished off the face of Mount Townsend, in Australia’s Snowy Mountains. Narrowing it down is a difficult thing to do in the baffling case of Prabh Srawn. So little is known of Srawn’s movements, intentions and supplies, and so lacking are the clues, that piecing together his final steps and resting place has become a game of guesswork and supposition. It has become one of Australia’s greatest ever outdoors mysteries.

Srawn was living and studying on Australia’s beach metropolis of the Gold Coast. A year ago he left the sun and surf for a touring holiday, intending to finish in Melbourne, 1,700 kilometres away. He never got there.

Only two things are known for sure: (1) he hired a van and drove it to Charlotte Pass; and (2) he never brought it back. He also never told anyone of his hiking plans. Astonishingly, the first sign Srawn was missing came when the van wasn’t returned."

Thanks so much dotr for finding the article :seeya:
Had 'puter problems - back now
Great read - and new perspective of the landscape and the serch
- and something new in the mix that I wasn't aware of...

How did a Brampton hiker just vanish in the Australian bush?
By: Ricky French Special to the Star, Published on Fri Jun 06 2014

Prabh Srawn wasn’t the only person leaving Charlotte Pass for a late autumn hike on May 14, 2013. Four friends, led by Tom Batty, set out to complete the same loop that Srawn was intending to do, just a couple of hours after the Canadian. As well as taking proper clothing and provisions, they took a video camera.

From the footage the full extent of the blizzard is revealed. The men start walking in fine conditions, but by the early afternoon snow is driving into their faces, and a freezing wind is whipping up the valley. Sticking to the Main Range Track, the party takes shelter in Seaman’s Hut, the lone refuge on the tops, and waits out the storm until the next day. They saw no sign of Srawn. How close they came to him we may never know.
-----

An early clue during the initial search last winter seemed to confirm this. A plastic water bottle was found on a track called Hannels Spur, a tough, overgrown route through the Western Fall, which Jarvis describes as the worst track in Australia. It connects the Main Range with the Geehi Flats — a popular campground — in a valley to the west.
Finding the water bottle appeared to be a huge breakthrough. The bottle was from an underwater diving company called Pro Dive Cairns. A quick check revealed that Srawn had been diving in the popular North Queensland resort town of Cairns the previous December. Hopes soared that this would lead searchers to Srawn, possibly still alive in the bush.
It didn’t. Further investigation revealed it wasn’t the same diving company Srawn had used.

I still wonder where on earth are there any traces of Prabh's clothing - polyester and man made fibres aren't going to break down that quickly that its not still intact - even if they were in pieces.

I'm glad to her Dave Jarvis' story and his determined search for Prabh.
Bless him.

Dave Jarvis atop Mount Townsend.

 

[FigTree]

Just searching for any new info on the searches for Prabh and came across one of the searchers blog.

The blog is called HoskinsHikes and it give some interesting insight - especially the weather.
There is a Part I, and a Part II
and some photos..

THE SEARCH FOR PRABHDEEP SRAWN (PART 1)
http://hoskinghikes.wordpress.com/2014/06/12/the-search-for-prabhdeep-srawn-part-1/


THE SEARCH FOR PRABHDEEP SRAWN (PART 2)
http://hoskinghikes.wordpress.com/

.