Broken family of missing Sunbury man Josh Bishop makes emotional plea for help

The broken family of missing Sunbury man Joshua Bishop have made a passionate plea for help to find their son and brother, whose phone recently pinged at a suburban park.

Detectives are appealing for public assistance to locate missing Sunbury man Joshua Bishop. Picture: Supplied

A phone pinging at a suburban reserve has failed to assist police in the search for a budding personal trainer who has been missing for almost two weeks.

The family of Joshua Bishop, 23, begged for any assistance to find their missing boy who was last seen by his housemate in Sunbury on May 27.

Detectives have described the fitness fanatic’s disappearance as “completely out of character” and have not ruled out foul play.

The family man’s phone pinged at Broadmeadows Valley Park on May 27 but there was no trace of Josh at that site.

He has not accessed his phone or bank accounts since that day.

Josh (left) has not been seen for nearly two weeks. Picture: Supplied,

Detectives have not ruled out foul play. Picture: Supplied

Josh’s parents were overcome with emotion when they bravely fronted the media to appeal for help on Friday morning.

His mother, Kristie, broke down in tears several times in an extremely raw and heartbreaking plea for any information.

She said she held concerns for her son’s mental health as he began losing weight rapidly.

It was extremely out of character given Josh was dedicated to growing muscle in the gym.

“I haven’t heard anything,” she said, crying.

“Josh was very open with me, we had a really good relationship. This is not something he would do unless he felt he had to.

“This is definitely out of character.”

Josh (third from right) with his family. Picture: Supplied

She said her last conversation with her son was an exchange over the phone where he reassured her he was “fine”.

She refuses to accept the fact that no one is involved in his perplexing disappearance.

“He said ‘I’m fine mum, I’m fine, I don’t have a problem’,” she added.

“I just can’t believe nobody knows nothing. I just cannot believe that.

“Someone knows something.”

Josh was last seen by his housemate, who is co-operating with police but has not been able to provide any fruitful information.

His Toyota Corolla was found parked on Ridley St in Albion, near Sunshine on Wednesday.

Josh’s phone pinged at the Broadmeadows reserve on the day he was last seen, but a major search of that area has uncovered little.

Josh (left) with his dad Travis. Picture: Supplied

Missing persons squad detectives say Josh has minor criminal links through his associates, but has never been on the radar of police.

That is one line of inquiry for detectives.

“At this stage, we’re still exploring the opportunity of associates involved in criminal activity,” Detective Acting Sergeant Matthew Wilson-Hawe said.

“We’ve been speaking to associates of associates and eventually the net does obviously identify criminal persons, whether or not Josh is directly implicated, we’re still exploring.

“We don’t know where he is. We don’t know why he’s gone.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers. Picture: Supplied

Josh’s dad, Travis, was almost completely lost for words.

“We still haven’t got any closer to our son, which is hard,” he said, reaching for another tissue.

“I don't know how people go through this... We’re not coping.

“We’re all just praying that he’s safe. We’re all hurting. We just want him to know that we love him.”

Josh is caucasion, of average build with short blonde hair and blue eyes.

He was last seen wearing a black singlet and tracksuit pants.

Anyone with any piece of information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

Originally published as Broken family of missing Sunbury man Josh Bishop makes emotional plea for help