Police confirm Boondooma Dam remains as missing man Luke Fergusson
A regional Qld family’s nine month-long wait for answers has ended in heartbreak with police confirming the identity of remains found by a member of the public.
South Burnett
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An agonising nine-month wait for answers has ended in heartbreak for a South Burnett family with police confirming the identity of a body found at Boondooma Dam several months ago is that of missing man Luke Fergusson.
Mr Fergusson, 28, had been missing for almost three months before the remains were found.
He was last seen at his family’s Abbeywood Rd, Proston home about midday on June 9, 2023.
His disappearance sparked a massive weeks’ long search across hundreds of square kilometres of rugged bushland between Proston, Stallworth, and Abbeywood.
Rescue helicopters and police divers were involved in the search at times.
It was scaled back on July 12, 32 days after it started, although Mr Fergusson’s family and members of the community continued their efforts in the following weeks.
On the evening of Monday September 18 a member of the public found unidentified remains at the Boondooma Dam at Okeden, 40km west of Murgon and 16km from where the 28-year-old was last seen.
Following the discovery of the remains, Mr Fergusson’s mother Susanne Bedey made a heartbreaking post on a social media page established as part of the search.
“We hurt and grieve, and we scream and yell at the injustice of it all,” Ms Bedey said.
“That we may have lost our Lukey in the worst of possible ways.
“To think he died alone, scared, cold and hungry.”
Police confirmed on Thursday March 14, the remains belonged to Mr Fergusson.
“Police have provided a report for the coroner following the non-suspicious death of a 28-year-old man in Okeden last year,” a media spokeswoman said.
It is understood the backlog at the state’s DNA lab was one of the reasons in the delay of formally identifying Mr Fergusson’s body.
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