‘I’d be shocked if he was dead’: New theories emerge in missing man’s case

Jeremiah Rivers, who went missing from a remote south-western Queensland campsite, could have been grabbed, driven away and shot, a lawyer has suggested in a coronial inquest into the disappearance.

But the inquest also heard two rifles the group were carrying with them would have been inoperable because the man who owned them had accidentally left the bolts on the side of the road in NSW.

Jeremiah Rivers, 27, has never been found. Credit: Facebook/Belinda Rivers

Rivers, known to his family as “Jayo”, went missing in October 2021, while travelling with six other people on a pig-hunting trip, as they drove from Victoria, through NSW and Queensland, towards the Northern Territory.

The group broke through a gate at Queensland’s border, and were fearful they would face punishment for entering the state during the height of COVID-19 restrictions.

But when they arrived at the remote camp of Wippo Creek, about 150 kilometres west of Thargomindah in south-western Queensland, Rivers disappeared into the bush about 9.30am.

The Coroners Court has so far heard the group were smoking methylamphetamine and drinking alcohol on the trip, as they travelled to Wippo Creek in two cars with hunting dogs. The court has heard allegations the group were travelling to Northern Territory to sell cannabis to Indigenous communities.

On Tuesday during the second day of evidence, another group member, Travis Clare, was questioned by lawyer Stewart Levitt, acting for the Rivers family, about the trip.

Clare denied assertions made by Levitt that they were travelling to sell the drugs, and when questioned if Rivers tried to walk to a dam because he wanted to escape, Clare said he did not know, but “maybe he wanted to”.

Levitt suggested a theory to Clare that Rivers was unable to be found because he had been grabbed, driven away from the site, and shot at another creek.

Clare responded: “That’s a bloody out-there theory.”

Levitt suggested a number of people heard gunshots at the site, but there were no traces of blood.

Clare denied the theory, and said if Rivers had been shot, there would have been evidence of blood nearby.

When asked if Rivers was dead, Clare told the court he would be “shocked if he was dead”, and explained that he thought his body would have been found if that was the case.

The man who owned the two rifles, Joel McMaster, gave evidence he left his rifle bolts in the NSW town of White Cliffs, a few hours drive from the Queensland border, when changing the guns and ammunition over between the vehicles.

The bolts were found on October 17, the day before Rivers went missing.

Under questioning, McMaster told the court he found out about the missing bolts about three or four days after Rivers went missing.

He said he last saw the bolts when the group stopped at White Cliffs for a rest.

“With me being the only one with a firearms licence, I made sure the firearms and bolts and ammunition were always in the car I was travelling in,” he said, explaining during the process of unpacking the car and swapping the firearms, he “set the bolts down on the ground and drove off without them.”

The group, also carrying hunting knives, then made their way into Queensland, but it was not until after they were escorted out of the state by police that they were told the bolts were missing, McMaster said.

“The inference logically out of that is that those two rifles could not have been used,” Coroner Donald MacKenzie said.

McMaster answered: “Correct, impossible.”

The court also heard from another member of the group, Kane Toohey, who was the last person to see Rivers alive.

Toohey also refuted assertions by Levitt that Rivers was killed, disputing his theories as “completely inaccurate”, “ridiculous”, and “an absolute joke”.

The court on Monday heard from Rivers’ long-time friend Joe Joe Kantilla-Gaden, with whom he played AFL for a local club in Balranald, who said he woke up to find Rivers missing and began searching for him.

Jeremiah Rivers (pictured in centre) was last seen at Wippo Creek in south-western Queensland in October 2021. Credit: Queensland Police

He told the court he tracked his footprints in the dirt, but was unable to find him. The footprints circled back on themselves, Kantilla-Gaden said.

In one of multiple statements he made to police, Kantilla-Gaden told officers he found out at Wippo Creek that others in the group had cannabis they were planning to sell in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory because they could make up to $3000 an ounce.

Levitt suggested to Kantilla-Gaden on Monday he had fought with Rivers earlier on the trip when Rivers found out about selling cannabis, and that Rivers “wanted out”.

Kantilla-Gaden denied the assertion.

The court has also heard from Matthew Moore, another member of the group, who said Rivers had repeatedly walked off during the trip.

The inquest, before Coroner MacKenzie, continues.