Australia Australia - Celine Cremer, 31, Belgium backpacker, car found at the Philosopher’s fall track, Waratah, Tasmania, 12 June 2023

[NingNang]

A plastic bag strikes me as something you might carry in your small pack. But, if you were wearing it against wet, why would you take it off before you got back to your car?

If she had hypothermia, she may have become confused and disoriented. People with severe hypothermia are known to do irrational things like take their clothes off. It's so sad to think about.

 

[iamshadow21]

Most backpackers bring a small fold-up daypack to take for a walk, to carry water, snack, etc.

A plastic bag strikes me as something you might carry in your small pack. But, if you were wearing it against wet, why would you take it off before you got back to your car?

Has it been specified the bottle was glass? At any rate, many concientous tourists try to avoid waste by refilling one bottle.

My concern is, if lost, she might have gone a long way off track, in no particular direction.

JMO

There are pictures of the bottle.

'Potential shelter' found in bushland search for Celine Cremer

Searchers find a water bottle and a garbage bag that may have been used as a poncho in the Tasmanian bushland where Belgian tourist Celine Cremer went missing.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Rocket333]

A couple of questions about the water bottle and garbage bag that were found today:

1. I saw a comment on Facebook by a random person claiming that Celine’s backpack was found inside her car, suggesting she wouldn’t have taken many items with her on the walk. I can’t find any news source over the past 2+ years of reporting that confirms this claim. Does anyone know if this is true?

2. Rob Parsons posted on Facebook today that the brand of water bottle (Ossa) was sold at the restaurant Celine worked at (Lure Wine Bar). But from what I can tell, the restaurant she worked at was at Coles Bay on the East coast, a long way from this region where she disappeared. What are the chances she would be carrying a glass water bottle from her restaurant while travelling around Philosopher Falls? (It could still be hers though, perhaps she just bought it at a local shop.)

Any thoughts?

I think forensic testing of the water bottle and garbage bag will be crucial. I wonder if her DNA could possibly survive on these items for 2+ years?

You can buy Ossa bottled water in Woolworths and local shops so it’s not hard to get. The bottle found had an expiry date of April 2024.

The return walk from the car park is only 2km’s so you wouldn't bother taking much. If the garbage bag and water were hers, she was probably wearing the bag and holding her phone, car keys and water in her hands or pockets.

'Potential shelter' found in bushland search for Celine Cremer

Searchers find a water bottle and a garbage bag that may have been used as a poncho in the Tasmanian bushland where Belgian tourist Celine Cremer went missing.

www.abc.net.au

 

[acutename]

Most backpackers bring a small fold-up daypack to take for a walk, to carry water, snack, etc.

A plastic bag strikes me as something you might carry in your small pack. But, if you were wearing it against wet, why would you take it off before you got back to your car?

Has it been specified the bottle was glass? At any rate, many concientous tourists try to avoid waste by refilling one bottle.

My concern is, if lost, she might have gone a long way off track, in no particular direction.

JMO

yes... when you watch that searcher's YouTube, you see that off the track, the area there is just a massive tangle of vines and leaves and underbrush. He wears gaiters and gloves because of all the thorns and scratchy stuff and off the track, you cannot see 10 ft in front of you and the ground undulates. I am a little surprised that anyone would try a"short cut" through that terrain.

 

[Rocket333]

yes... when you watch that searcher's YouTube, you see that off the track, the area there is just a massive tangle of vines and leaves and underbrush. He wears gaiters and gloves because of all the thorns and scratchy stuff and off the track, you cannot see 10 ft in front of you and the ground undulates. I am a little surprised that anyone would try a"short cut" through that terrain.

I agree. Given that rough terrain, the time of day, the weather, and the relative ease of returning to the car via the designated falls path, it makes me wonder if Celine stepped off the track to avoid, or even go around, someone who was on it. It also raises the question of whether she might have been followed from Waratah, or if she told someone there she was heading to the Falls and staying the night. I haven’t heard anything though about her phoning for help at any point, so who knows.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

It could have all started by her dropping her phone, by accident and with the light fading and the conditions worsening she wasn't able to find it and got impossibly lost with no way to contact anyone.