Australia Australia - Theo Hayez, 18, Belgian backpacker, Byron Bay, 31 May 2019 #4
- Thread starter Beagle
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notice that once theo is arriving at the sports field he starts walking to the other side of the road. There's only one street light there, on the side of the road he was walking before yet he crosses to the dark side of the road.
Here's a closer view of the white van from the 2019 photo @BruceBanner posted a few days ago.
It has what I'd say a cargo rack with a black material and what appears to be be 2 surfboard bags. The van on the googlestreetview from April 2023 also has a white surfboard cover and a cargo rack with black material.
It has what I'd say a cargo rack with a black material and what appears to be be 2 surfboard bags. The van on the googlestreetview from April 2023 also has a white surfboard cover and a cargo rack with black material.
HinterlandObserver
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IMOO this looks a little like a utility with a canopy but I’m happy to go see if that van is still floating around.
i agree, but to the other side of the roof there's a white board on top of the black rack. if it's the same van in both the 2019 and 2013 photos -which I suspect it is- then there's a high probability theo passed right next to that van that night. this van doesn't seem to belong to one of the houses on the other side of the road, looks like it's being used as a camper.
thanks!
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Considering timing advance figures which indicate Theo's phone started moving again around 00:29 from cozy corner into headland towards the lighttower, and initial location data from Telstra, Theo's phone could have moved via the Lighttower to the footpath that leads to little wategoes beach. I know Theo's phone didn't connect to the nearby cell phone tower but maybe there's a path that would make this scenario possible.
This is the area at little wategoes, looks like cell phone reception would be extremely poor there, especially with little battery life left?
Maybe the Ballina cell tower can reach that area? Seems like there's a clear view over the water in between.
Maybe the Ballina cell tower can reach that area? Seems like there's a clear view over the water in between.
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"Theo’s phone was pinging to the Massinger Street tower. however at three points between midnight and just after 1:00am, the phone had also connected to the Ballina tower, some 25km to the south."
In my view this is consistent with the path outlined above (walk from cozy corner to little wategos beach)
Notice the clear line of view near the cottages with the tower on patterson st/massinger st
My guess is that the phone connects to Ballina for the last activity on theo's phone around 00:55 and 1:01
In my view this is consistent with the path outlined above (walk from cozy corner to little wategos beach)
Notice the clear line of view near the cottages with the tower on patterson st/massinger st
My guess is that the phone connects to Ballina for the last activity on theo's phone around 00:55 and 1:01
HinterlandObserver
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So hypothetically if this is what happened, where is Theo?
REC grounds? Cosy corner? Somewhere at Clarke’s beach? Main beach like some people say?
REC grounds? Cosy corner? Somewhere at Clarke’s beach? Main beach like some people say?
I think his phone ended up at little wategos beach. it's the only site that appears to match all the data. If theo himself was ever there, I seriously doubt it. But if his phone reached little wategos beach then the theory of theo falling off a cliff into the water is false, from little wategos there's no reason to go back instead you can just walk out of there on a wouden footh path as shown in an illustration above.
The cell phone handshake would have occurred at little wategos or walking from there to the street (marine parade), it's only 4 o 5 minutes. It could have been just someone walking that path late at night.
So I think the phone movements starting at the REC fields are from someone trying to create a diversion: hat dropped, pictures taken, moving around, text messages (notice the messages are all very short just one or two words), phone dropped.
I think theo must have been taken somewhere more remote than those beaches you mention.
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It doesn't appear there was a search for his phone:
"The search over the first two days focused heavily on the beach and bushland at
Wategos and the Pass (to the west of the lighthouse), guided to a large extent by
the wedge map provided by Telstra. However, there was also some coverage of
the areas where Theo was subsequently discovered to have been, including Cosy
Corner, the bushland near the Recreational Grounds, and Arakwal National Park.
In this respect, Senior Constable Papworth said that he also factored into his
decision making the fact that Theo’s last known direction was east bound on
Kingsley Street, in the opposite direction of his hostel."
"The searches of those areas were general in nature. In his evidence, Senior
Constable Papworth said that if he had had access at that time to the Google
location data, he would have approached the search with a lot more intensity and
ordered “contact forensic” searches (shoulder to shoulder, on hands and knees)
of areas where it was known that Theo spent some time"
"The evidence suggests that a more thorough briefing and better equipment could
have been given to the search team, particularly on the first day. Senior Constable
Papworth only had one photograph of Theo, which he showed to the search team
but did not have copies to hand out. Theo’s phone was not mentioned as an item
of significance"
" The searchers were not given GPS devices to record the
search areas. In addition, although Senior Constable (now Sergeant) Vidler, who
was a more experienced search coordinator but not on duty on 9 or 10 June, had
recommended via text message to use a Queensland PolAir helicopter with
thermal imaging technology, this was not done. This technology identifies heat
signatures and can outline a human person in bushland. "
"On 11 June 2019, Senior Constable Stirling took over as search coordinator. The
focus of the land search that day was on the areas around Belongil Beach and
the swamp near the Wake Up! hostel. In addition to the Telstra data and the belief
that Theo had probably walked back to the hostel after Cheeky Monkeys, the
search was being guided by the CCTV footage of the man on Shirley Street who
it was still believed may be Theo."
"Senior Constable Vidler’s first substantive involvement in the search, as
coordinator, was on 17 June 2019. She was asked to arrange another
coordinated search based on new information from Theo’s phone. In the briefing
that morning, Detective Rudens told her about the conflicting data from Telstra
and Google and said that it was not yet clear how to differentiate between the
two. She was provided with the different maps based on the Telstra and Google
data. "
"Senior Constable Vidler’s search team was made up of 17 SES volunteers and
10 police operational support operatives. In general, SES volunteers are trained
in searching although she could not say whether all of those present on the day
were in fact trained. There were given a description and photograph of Theo and
the clothes he was wearing on the night he disappeared, including his hat. There
was not a focus on the phone. "
"On 18 June 2019 (day 9 of the search) Senior Constable Papworth returned as
the search coordinator. At the handover briefing, he was provided with the map
with blue box from Telstra. He was also given a description and photograph of
Theo’s phone, some stills from the CCTV footage at the Great Northern and a
photograph of a lanyard from the hostel. With the benefit of hindsight, it would
appear that this material could and should have been provided to the searchers
from the first day of the search.
Later that day, Senior Constable Papworth was provided with the map showing
the more accurate Google location points. It was at this point that the focus of the
search operation shifted to the other side of the cape."
"The search over the first two days focused heavily on the beach and bushland at
Wategos and the Pass (to the west of the lighthouse), guided to a large extent by
the wedge map provided by Telstra. However, there was also some coverage of
the areas where Theo was subsequently discovered to have been, including Cosy
Corner, the bushland near the Recreational Grounds, and Arakwal National Park.
In this respect, Senior Constable Papworth said that he also factored into his
decision making the fact that Theo’s last known direction was east bound on
Kingsley Street, in the opposite direction of his hostel."
"The searches of those areas were general in nature. In his evidence, Senior
Constable Papworth said that if he had had access at that time to the Google
location data, he would have approached the search with a lot more intensity and
ordered “contact forensic” searches (shoulder to shoulder, on hands and knees)
of areas where it was known that Theo spent some time"
"The evidence suggests that a more thorough briefing and better equipment could
have been given to the search team, particularly on the first day. Senior Constable
Papworth only had one photograph of Theo, which he showed to the search team
but did not have copies to hand out. Theo’s phone was not mentioned as an item
of significance"
" The searchers were not given GPS devices to record the
search areas. In addition, although Senior Constable (now Sergeant) Vidler, who
was a more experienced search coordinator but not on duty on 9 or 10 June, had
recommended via text message to use a Queensland PolAir helicopter with
thermal imaging technology, this was not done. This technology identifies heat
signatures and can outline a human person in bushland. "
"On 11 June 2019, Senior Constable Stirling took over as search coordinator. The
focus of the land search that day was on the areas around Belongil Beach and
the swamp near the Wake Up! hostel. In addition to the Telstra data and the belief
that Theo had probably walked back to the hostel after Cheeky Monkeys, the
search was being guided by the CCTV footage of the man on Shirley Street who
it was still believed may be Theo."
"Senior Constable Vidler’s first substantive involvement in the search, as
coordinator, was on 17 June 2019. She was asked to arrange another
coordinated search based on new information from Theo’s phone. In the briefing
that morning, Detective Rudens told her about the conflicting data from Telstra
and Google and said that it was not yet clear how to differentiate between the
two. She was provided with the different maps based on the Telstra and Google
data. "
"Senior Constable Vidler’s search team was made up of 17 SES volunteers and
10 police operational support operatives. In general, SES volunteers are trained
in searching although she could not say whether all of those present on the day
were in fact trained. There were given a description and photograph of Theo and
the clothes he was wearing on the night he disappeared, including his hat. There
was not a focus on the phone. "
"On 18 June 2019 (day 9 of the search) Senior Constable Papworth returned as
the search coordinator. At the handover briefing, he was provided with the map
with blue box from Telstra. He was also given a description and photograph of
Theo’s phone, some stills from the CCTV footage at the Great Northern and a
photograph of a lanyard from the hostel. With the benefit of hindsight, it would
appear that this material could and should have been provided to the searchers
from the first day of the search.
Later that day, Senior Constable Papworth was provided with the map showing
the more accurate Google location points. It was at this point that the focus of the
search operation shifted to the other side of the cape."
HinterlandObserver
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From my understanding the connection made was an up address picked up. I was wondering if instead of a person it was a holiday units wifi or something?
I wasn’t able to get into town as planned on the weekend but will do my best to through the week.
mobile phones also use an IP address, these IP # will change according to the network it is connected to. If it had been a local wifi ip # it would have been easy to find the exact location so I doubt that's the case.
the connections from theo´s phone to the ballina tower are an important part of the official theory that theo fell into the water from those cliffs. but I see no reason why a phone wouldn't connect to ballina at parts of little wategos. The connections to ballina were between midnight and just after 1AM. Considering a whatsapp message was sent at 0056 it's highly unlikely that happened while climbing to the headland from cosy corner, you wouldn't be texting there at night. also if his phone started moving away from massinger at around 00:29 when the phone was at cosy corner it would only take about 10 minutes to get to the road at the lighthouse (00:39).
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You could be right about the IP, maybe it was some type of portable wifi. I checked on that footpath to little wategos and found this site interesting (yellow area). The path comes really close to that holiday unit
everything fits around this area in my view
perfect spot to send a text:
starts walking again around 0056
passes near a holiday unit at 0058 (time of wifi handshake)
and phone activity stops around 01:01
that's about where both paths cross
perfect spot to send a text:
starts walking again around 0056
passes near a holiday unit at 0058 (time of wifi handshake)
and phone activity stops around 01:01
that's about where both paths cross