Found Deceased AUS - Tayla Spies,29, white 2017 dual cab Toyota Hilux I’d also missing. Left a hotel in Daley & travelled west to Surat, Queensland, 2 Feb 25

[Anonamouse]

I'm a bit confused.
Do we know for sure what she does for work? I may have missed it, but I only saw a mention of previously being an event planner. Is she still in that business? What did she have on that weekend in Dalby? The info seem very vague.

The timeline fits well with the sightings: from Dalby 8am she drives 2h45min roughly to Surat (she was seen at 11.10am), maybe stops for food/toilet/fuel etc, then 45-50 mins to Yuleba (her phone pinged there at 12.13am).
The question is why was she going towards Yuleba instead of straight to Roma from Surat?

The fact that it was the last ping and went dark after that and the fact that the car has not been found, makes me worry about the usual "person+car in body of water".
From what I can see on Google Maps there's a lot of state forest in the area, and a few bodies of water, one of which (The Maryanne dam) in Yuleba south looks very close to the road. Not sure if the dam is full and how deep it is at this time of the year though.

She worked as Wedding planner . Has their own business. I saw it in an interview

 

[capebarrongoose]

I'm so sorry this has happened. I have a question though, was she actually seen driving her car when it was last seen. Something feels hinky.

This!!
She was known to have met up with friends AND THEN met up with her partner north of Surat, after driving from the petrol station.
Her ute is then seen (note, you cannot see who is driving the ute!) in CCTV footage heading in the opposite direction to Roma. So she was last seen by her partner, let's make that clear.
Her partner's social media gives me the creeps too, so many pictures of violently murdered animals.

 

[Lisbeth_S]

Family friend posts $5,000 reward to find missing mum Tayla Spies

An anonymous donor (who is a friend of the family) has put up a $5k reward for info.

Family also put a trail camera overlooking her father's roadside memorial where she regularly puts flowers, hoping to spot her there.

Police say: "We have not had any reports in relation to the motor vehicle, which we thought we'd get some information in relation to, which is frustrating.
"So, we have no solid place to start our search other than looking in that [Surat] area."

Fresh CCTV footage of Tayla Spies, 29, in Condamine, Queensland shared by police as search continues in 9,000 square-kilometre area

"As the search continues for Ms Spies, police on Tuesday shared new footage uncovered from a petrol station in Condamine, about 125 kilometres north-west of Dalby. "

I wonder what time this is from....I presume it's going to be at some point between 8am and 11.10am given the location.

 

[Lisbeth_S]

A Current affair's piece on her disappearance.

I didn't realise she was last seen by her partner.

 

[truthfinder2019]

Can someone make sense of the route she took, following the info about Condamine? I am still puzzled.

Here what is reported until now from all articles already posted in this thread:

She was last seen driving along the Carnarvon Highway in Surat about 11:10am, turning onto Cordelia Street from Burrowes Street on Sunday, February 2.

Then

at 12:13pm that same day, Tayla's mobile phone pinged off a telecommunications tower somewhere in the region of Yuleba South

And

Petrol station in Condamine - no time indicated

And

Tayla Spies, 29, had been travelling on Carnarvon Highway south of the Condamine turnoff heading towards the town of Roma between 10am and 1pm on February 2.

Something is off, no ?

ETA: i asked ChatGPT to give a timeline from online information and this is what I got with MSN ref:

• Morning (Around 8:00 AM): Tayla was seen leaving a hotel in Dalby, Queensland, traveling west towards Surat.
  
  news.com.au
  
  
• Mid-Morning (Approximately 9:20 AM): CCTV footage captured Tayla purchasing fuel at a service station in Condamine.
  
  couriermail.com.au
  
  
• Late Morning (Between 11:00 AM and 11:30 AM): She was last seen in the Surat area, with her vehicle spotted at 11:10 AM.
  

 

[capebarrongoose]

Can someone make sense of the route she took, following the info about Condamine? I am still puzzled.

Here what is reported until now from all articles already posted in this thread:

She was last seen driving along the Carnarvon Highway in Surat about 11:10am, turning onto Cordelia Street from Burrowes Street on Sunday, February 2.

Then

at 12:13pm that same day, Tayla's mobile phone pinged off a telecommunications tower somewhere in the region of Yuleba South

And

Petrol station in Condamine - no time indicated

And

Tayla Spies, 29, had been travelling on Carnarvon Highway south of the Condamine turnoff heading towards the town of Roma between 10am and 1pm on February 2.

Something is off, no ?

Yep, it's all weird.
It's important to note though that she was NOT seen driving at 11:10am, her CAR was. She was last seen by her partner some time prior.

 

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[Lisbeth_S]

Yep, it's all weird.
It's important to note though that she was NOT seen driving at 11:10am, her CAR was. She was last seen by her partner some time prior.

Good point.
But if we consider that someone may have used her car, then where is the car now?
Surely by now it should have showed up somewhere...this is what puzzles me the most.

Would be interesting to know what info police got from the friends and partner she saw that morning.

 

[Rocket333]

Good point.
But if we consider that someone may have used her car, then where is the car now?
Surely by now it should have showed up somewhere...this is what puzzles me the most.

Would be interesting to know what info police got from the friends and partner she saw that morning.

Is this the gist of it?

Tayla stayed at the Windsor motel in Dalby with her partner.

When leaving the motel, Tayla carried a big bag to her car. (on cctv)

Tayla and her partner left Dalby in separate cars and headed for their home in Roma.

Tayla stopped for fuel in Condamine (on cctv).

Tayla arrived in Surat and met up with friends, and then caught up with her partner again.

Tayla left Surat and appeared to turn left or southwards, instead of taking the expected right turn and heading north to Roma.

Tayla’s phone pinged off the Yuleba telcom tower an hour after she left Surat. That tower range covers 9000 sq kms in all directions so Tayla’s location was somewhere within that vast area.

Tayla’s partner reported her missing the next morning as she did not arrive home in Roma.

A Current Affair clip:

 

[Lisbeth_S]

Is this the gist of it?

Tayla stayed at the Windsor motel in Dalby with her partner.

When leaving the motel, Tayla carried a big bag to her car. (on cctv)

Tayla and her partner left Dalby in separate cars and headed for their home in Roma.

Tayla stopped for fuel in Condamine (on cctv).

Tayla arrived in Surat and met up with friends, and then caught up with her partner again.

Tayla left Surat and appeared to turn left or southwards, instead of taking the expected right turn and heading north to Roma.

Tayla’s phone pinged off the Yuleba telcom tower an hour after she left Surat. That tower range covers 9000 sq kms in all directions so Tayla’s location was somewhere within that vast area.

Tayla’s partner reported her missing the next morning as she did not arrive home in Roma.

A Current Affair clip:

Thank you, your summary kinda makes things more clear.

It's an incredibly vast area.

Again, I wonder if LE has had any indication from her last interactions.

 

[truthfinder2019]

The fuel tank capacity of a Hilux is 80L. The average consumption I could find is 12L/100 km.
This means the car could be driven for ca 660 Km on a full tank. It would be interesting to know how much se refilled, and at what distance from each other are the gas stations in that area.
She could have taken the A55 south, or the 87 which goes almost back to Dalby.
She must have been caught on cctv somewhere else, or at least her car
JMO

https://media.toyota.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/pdf/220217M-Hilux-Tech-Spec.pdf

Dalby to Surat

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[ShadowsTrail]

I'm so sorry about your friend. *hugs*
Where did that happen?

The Maryanne camp ground has a dam, is directly on the road between Surat and Yuleba and the telephone tower that pinged her phone is nearby.

Admittedly, it's still only one of many possibilities.
It's been a while with no sightings though. I can't think of a likely scenario with a good outcome, but you never know.

Thank you. In blue mountains, NSW. Coroner ruled it an open case. She wasn't found until 9monthd after her disappearance, so not much evidence remained.

 

[Danniesix]

I'm a bit confused.
Do we know for sure what she does for work? I may have missed it, but I only saw a mention of previously being an event planner. Is she still in that business? What did she have on that weekend in Dalby? The info seem very vague.

The timeline fits well with the sightings: from Dalby 8am she drives 2h45min roughly to Surat (she was seen at 11.10am), maybe stops for food/toilet/fuel etc, then 45-50 mins to Yuleba (her phone pinged there at 12.13am).
The question is why was she going towards Yuleba instead of straight to Roma from Surat?

The fact that it was the last ping and went dark after that and the fact that the car has not been found, makes me worry about the usual "person+car in body of water".
From what I can see on Google Maps there's a lot of state forest in the area, and a few bodies of water, one of which (The Maryanne dam) in Yuleba south looks very close to the road. Not sure if the dam is full and how deep it is at this time of the year though.

Agreed with our theory on this. If the car is missing and no sign of her or the car and last ping went off the map then a body of water would male plausible sense.

 

[SimplyCass]

The confusing part to me is the CCTV in Surat. They have footage of her entering Surat from the north...I assume, where she met up with friends. Where is the footage of going back out on the A55 to Roma? There appears to be no other practical route to otherwise drive to Roma.

Another article mentions that friends/family put up trail cams to see if she went to visit her father's memorial west of Ceceil Plains, but Cecil Plains is almost directly south of Dalby. It wouldn't make sense for her to drive to Cecil Plains after leaving Surat. Also, the cell phone tower ping would seem to suggest she did drive north, but again, how come they have not yet found or shown the footage of her leaving Surat.

Tayla Spies - Google My Maps

Tayla Spies

www.google.com

Here's my Google My Map to show some of the locations and a driving route.

 

[Lisbeth_S]

Another article mentions that friends/family put up trail cams to see if she went to visit her father's memorial west of Ceceil Plains, but Cecil Plains is almost directly south of Dalby. It wouldn't make sense for her to drive to Cecil Plains after leaving Surat.

I think because that memorial seem to be very important to her, they hope to catch her stopping there at any point (even in the future) to have proof that she's still alive. And because there is no way she would miss the anniversay without visiting the memorial, if she doesn't show up it means she is not alive or at least not gone of her own free will.

Or at least this is how I interpret it.

MOO

 

[Rocket333]

Agreed with our theory on this. If the car is missing and no sign of her or the car and last ping went off the map then a body of water would male plausible sense.

Sadly I agree with your theory about water too. Or the car is in a shed.

Lake Broadwater was mentioned but that is way back near Dalby. I suspect Tayla is between Surat and Roma somewhere.

What bothers me a bit is that Tayla was travelling home to Dalby with her partner that afternoon (in separate cars), yet he only reported her missing the next morning or day. What was he doing or thinking that same afternoon and evening when she didn’t arrive home around the same time as him or answer his calls?

 

[Rocket333]

The confusing part to me is the CCTV in Surat. They have footage of her entering Surat from the north...I assume, where she met up with friends. Where is the footage of going back out on the A55 to Roma? There appears to be no other practical route to otherwise drive to Roma.

I think Tayla might have met friends at the Timber Crate cafe and was then caught on cctv driving past the cafe and turning left when she departed. She may have simply turned left and driven around the block before heading north to Roma. My hunch is that she headed home from Surat and was stopped on the Surat to Roma stretch.

 

[Rocket333]

I think because that memorial seem to be very important to her, they hope to catch her stopping there at any point (even in the future) to have proof that she's still alive. And because there is no way she would miss the anniversay without visiting the memorial, if she doesn't show up it means she is not alive or at least not gone of her own free will.

Or at least this is how I interpret it.

MOO

She also missed her birthday, and there’s been no activity with her phone and bank account.

 

[Lisbeth_S]

I think Tayla might have met friends at the Timber Crate cafe and was then caught on cctv driving past the cafe and turning left when she departed. She may have simply turned left and driven around the block before heading north to Roma. My hunch is that she headed home from Surat and was stopped on the Surat to Roma stretch.

Agreed.
Or one may also speculate that there may not be cameras at every angle of town (or cameras may be not working), so she may have gotten out of Surat and not be captured in any camera.

She also missed her birthday, and there’s been no activity with her phone and bank account.

Yes, if you put it all together there are a lot of bad signs and not very many good ones

 

[Rocket333]

I’m curious about the search efforts thrown at this case, particularly given (and in comparison to) the intensive search efforts by so many and so immediately in the Samantha Murphy case. There was no trace of Samantha either, and her family alerted authorities straight away too. It hit national media headlines straight away and has been high profile the whole time. Why is Tayla’s case not being given the same attention and priority?