Police resume search for Joe Johnson, missing near Gympie Qld

Search and rescue efforts near Gympie will fire up on the weekend as police investigate the disappearance of a 28-year-old man not seen since before Christmas.

Police and SES crews are expected to resume their search for missing 28-year-old man Joe Johnson who vanished near Gympie in the lead-up to Christmas. The search was paused for nine days.

Police and SES crews are expected to resume their search for missing Joe Johnson on Saturday, nine days after ‘pausing’ their efforts.

Mr Johnson, 28, from Pie Creek, was last seen at a Rocks Rd property in the rural Gympie area on the evening of December 12, 2023.

A large scale search at The Palms, about 10km northeast of Pie Creek, was launched on January 9, after police were able to link Mr Johnson to a white Mitsubishi suspected of being stolen, found in the area two days after Christmas.

The car is believed to have been stolen from an Old Noosa Rd address, and abandoned in bushland at the end of Deans Rd, near Widgee Crossing South.

Search Rescue crews, including volunteers and police divers, scoured bushland near where the ute was found for four days in oppressive heat, but were unable to turn up any new information about Mr Johnson’s whereabouts.

The search was launched after police were able to link Joe Johnson with a white ute believed to have been stolen from another part of Gympie.

The search was paused on Friday, January 11, to give searchers a break from the heat and the challenging terrain, and allow police to determine what their next steps should be.

Police said the search will be resuming on Saturday, January 20.

It is not yet known where these search efforts will be focused.

Police scoured bushland at The Palms, about 10km outside Gympie, for four days before pausing search efforts.

Police have so far been unwilling to rule out any possibilities as to what happened to Mr Johnson, whether he was still alive or if the disappearance was being treated as suspicious.

During the initial search Inspector Brad Inskip said Mr Johnson was “known to have a bit of experience with camping and could maintain himself in the bush for some time”.

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Residents from Tandur, Pie Creek, The Palms, and surrounding areas have been urged to check CCTV or dashcam footage from December 11 in case they have seen the white ute or Mr Johnson around their properties.

Mr Johnson is described as caucasian in appearance, about 180cm tall with a very slim build, short brown hair, and hazel eyes.

He has a distinctive tattoo on the right-hand-side of his neck.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts is urged to immediately contact police, and as officers and his family have serious concerns for his welfare.