Trent Riley’s family calls off official search for 26-year-old missing in Moreton Bay

The family of Trent Riley, who has been missing since his boat was found in Moreton Bay, have made the heartbreaking decision to call off the official search for the 26-year-old.

Trent Riley went missing in Moreton Bay on April 4.

The family of beloved Brisbane boatie Trent Riley, who has been missing since his tinnie was found in Moreton Bay 12 days ago, has described the heartbreaking decision to call off the official search for the 26-year-old.

Hundreds of volunteers dubbed ‘Trent’s Army’ spent more than a week searching Moreton Bay and Mud Island for signs of Trent - with some continuing unofficial searches today.

The discovery of his aluminium boat ‘Lydia’ on April 14 sparked a massive large land and air search involving water police, the Coast Guard, and hundreds of family, friends and members of the public.

The family called off the official search on Sunday afternoon.

Brother Shannon told The Courier-Mail that Trent’s Army was made possible because of Trent’s incredible personality and the relationships he had across the skating and fishing communities.

Police search for Trent Riley in Moreton Bay. Picture: 9 News Queensland

“He was purely the most kindest person that anyone has known,” Shannon said.

“His friends all say the same thing. He wasn’t on our level, he wouldn’t speak a bad word about anyone, he wouldn’t complain about anyone, he would just have unconditional love.”

Shannon said calling off the search was the hardest thing he had done in his life.

“It was really my parents wishes ... we covered absolutely everything multiple times and everyone was getting fatigued, so my parents were right to make that call, at the end of the day we were running out of places to search and we just have to accept reality,” he said.

Trent Riley family have called off the official search for the 26-year-old.

“The whole goal right now is to get people to think like Trent and be like Trent.”

Trent is an avid fisherman and a rising star in Australia’s skating community who was featured on the cover of the latest issue of Slam Skateboarding magazine.

“He had no fear when it came to that stuff, when it came to going down a 20-stair handrail he’d have no fear,” Shannon said.

Close friends described him as “a ray of sunshine and a breath of fresh air” with an “infectious smile”.

Hayden Howse said Trent had a “forever graceful and stylish approach” to everything he did.

Murrumba Downs local Ashleigh Flynn, 32, had never met Trent but has spent more than a week organising food, supplies and safety plans for hundreds of volunteers in the search HQ at the Port of Brisbane.

Volunteers join the search for missing fisherman Trent Riley who has been missing for 11 days.

She said the “tragic and heartbreaking” situation pulled together people from all walks of life all with a goal to bring Trent home.

“It came up on Facebook the second day he was missing and it just touched me, I’m not sure why but I knew I just had to get out and help these guys,” she said.

“It created bonds between complete strangers that will last a life time.

“On the weekend we would have had at least 100-200 people on foot - at one point we had about 70 on Green Island, 50 on Mud Island and then other people all up and down on Moreton Bay, Straddie, Redcliffe, Wynnum.

“We had a 14 year old boy who got a bus, train and skated from the train station at Wynnum to the Port of Brisbane to help and he did that because Trent was a bit of a mentor to him, he’d skated with him for years...we had an 88-year-old grandpa out of the jetski and he was ferrying crews back and forth.

Volunteers join the search for missing fisherman Trent Riley who has been missing for 11 days.

“There was never tears - I don’t think I saw Shannon cry until Sunday - it was just positivity and strength, it was just ‘go go go we’ve got this’.”

The massive outpouring of community support ranged from trekkers who spent hours scouring through dense bush, boaties, cooks, business who donated safety gear, food trucks, a discounted private helicopter, and members of the public who trawled through hours of video footage online looking for potential clues.

Despite the official search being called off, Ms Flynn said a small number of volunteers continued to search for Trent today.

The family plan to hold a public tribute for Trent in the coming days.