A handwritten letter was sent to police. It had directions to a buried body

In early 1983, Queensland police received a handwritten letter.

“I believe body of AJ Jones buried in or near Fullarton River bed, within 100 yds southside Flinders Hwy,” it read.

The letter police received about the murder of Tony Jones.

The letter, postmarked from Cairns, was signed only “LOCHIEL”.

Weeks earlier, 20-year-old Perth man Anthony “Tony” Jones had gone missing while hitchhiking from the outback town of Hughenden, a few hundred kilometres east of Fullarton River.

He was expected to meet his brother in Mount Isa, in the Gulf Country, a few hours’ drive east of the Northern Territory border.

“Tony never arrived in Mount Isa,” Detective Sergeant Brenden Stevenson said.

And Jones’ body has never been found.

His blue backpack, a green sleeping bag, a green, one-man tent, and a Voere .22 calibre rifle also remain missing.

Tony Jones was planning to meet his brother in Mt Isa in November 1982.

But now, police are investigating new information, including the fact Jones and another person were involved in an altercation at the Grand Hotel in Hughenden on November 12, 1982.

Days earlier, Jones had called his family back in Western Australia from a telephone box on Bowen Road.

The call, about 8.50pm, was the last time his family would hear from him.

“We know that he made a phone call to his parents on November 3, advising the family he was going to hitchhike and meet his brother in Mount Isa,” Stevenson told reporters on Thursday.

A similar rifle to the one Jones had when he went missing.

“We also know that he advised his family that he was going to undertake that journey that evening.”

Police have announced a $500,000 reward for information in relation to the case, and urged anyone with information, including about the letter, to come forward.

Stevenson said several witnesses had placed Jones at the hotel on the evening of November 12.

“We’re seeking any person who may have information or who may have been in the Grand Hotel that evening to come forward.”

Stevenson would not elaborate on the nature of the altercation at the hotel, but said police had suspects.

“We have persons of interest in relation to this matter, but I can’t comment on that,” he said.

In 2014, investigators on Jones’ case declared a crime scene at an outback slaughter yard in Hughenden.

After receiving the letter on January 19, 1983, Stevenson said police were unable to identify the author.

He said police and the SES searched the area described in the letter extensively but no remains had been found.

In 2018, Jones’ family said they believed they knew who had murdered him, but said police were refusing to act on evidence gathered in a lengthy private investigation.

“We’re handing it on a platter to them, and they don’t want to listen,” Jones’ brother Mark said at the time.

Jones’ family have been waiting more than 40 years for answers regarding his death.

An inquest in 2002 found Jones had probably been murdered, and a later inquest in 2010 heard Jones’ body might have been burned in slaughter yards in Hughenden.

In 2014, a crime scene was declared at a Hughenden slaughter yard, as investigators worked to identify further leads.

Stevenson told reporters on Thursday the investigation was nearing its 41st year, but detectives were hopeful they would be able to give Jones’ family closure.

“As any family would be, they’re extremely distraught, they want closure,” he said.

Police have taken more than 70 statements and conducted 300 inquiries recently for Jones’ case, Stevenson said.

Anyone with information was urged to contact police, with the $500,000 reward in place for information that led to the apprehension and conviction of the person or people responsible for the suspected murder.

Indemnity against prosecution was also on offer for any accomplice.

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