Australia Australia - Tristan Frank,14, went missing near Balgo, close to WA/NT border, travelling to funeral w/family, 3 Dec 2020

MsMiniSleuth

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  • #1
Tristan Frank, 14, went missing near the remote community of Balgo, close to the WA and NT border, on December 3, 2020, while travelling to a funeral with family.

An inquest hearing at the WA Coroner's Court on Friday heard some members of the local community believe he could have been concealed in the sand dunes of the nearby Tanami Desert.

Members of Tristan's family agreed that he may have been taken by the 'featherfoot' men - powerful spirits believed by some in the culture to move without being seen or heard and and who can bring death.

Tristan had been travelling between the NT and WA with his grandparents who had dropped him off at Balgo to catch up with his brother. He spent the night talking and smoking cannabis but the next morning had mysteriously vanished.


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  • #2
An inquest has heard the family of a then-14-year-old boy who went missing in the Western Australian outback three years ago believed he could have been spirited away by an Indigenous "featherfoot" entity.

[...]

Northern Territory local Tristan Frank was last seen near the remote community of Balgo, close to the WA border, on December 3, 2020.

An inquest into his disappearance was held in the WA Coroner's Court on Friday where details of his final known movements were heard for the first time.

Tristan was travelling with his grandparents between the NT and WA border to attend a funeral at the time of his disappearance.

The coroner heard Tristan and his family drove from Nyirripi with plans to get to Noonkanbah in time for the service.

They stopped in Balgo for the evening, and his grandparents said the teenager was in good spirits when they went to sleep at separate houses.

The coroner heard that days before he went missing, Tristan told his grandparents he wished to stay in Balgo rather than continue on to the funeral in order to stay with his brother who had just also arrived in the community.

His grandparents agreed and left for Noonkanbah.

[...]

The coroner heard Tristan's grandparents repeatedly tried to call him while they were away, and when the funeral was cancelled they headed back to Balgo to collect him on December 5.

When no-one in the community could say where the teenager had gone his family began searching border communities for any trace of the boy.

They contacted police on December 6.

[...]

 
  • #3
Unique case, and not much to go on either.
 
  • #4
The funeral was cancelled??
 
  • #5

"The mystery behind Tristan's disappearance has also become heightened partly because his family has declined to publicly comment on the situation."
 
  • #6

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