Coroner Donald MacKenzie hands down findings in Jeremiah ‘Jayo’ Rivers missing person inquest

A coroner said it was possible that Jeremiah Rivers met with foul play as he travelled through a remote pocket of South West Queensland with a group of pig hunters, but their lies after his disappearance hampered the police investigation.

Jeremiah “Jayo” Rivers, 27, was last seen at a campsite at the remote Wippo Creek, near in South West Queensland, on October 18, 2021.,

A coroner suspects one or more of the people who were travelling with Jeremiah ‘Jayo’ Rivers when he vanished in a remote pocket of South West Queensland may be responsible for his death, but he does not have enough evidence to recommend criminal charges.

The 27-year-old Kimberly man returned home from Balranald, South Australia in October 2021 after a stint playing Aussie rules.

He was in the company of six men – his kinship brother Joe Kantilla-Gaden, Matthew Moore from Balranald, and four men who he had not met before – Travis Clare, Dylan Thomas, Joel McMaster and Kane Toohey.

The group decided they would go pig hunting as they travelled north through South Australia, crossing into Queensland illegally, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic border restrictions.

On or about October 18, 2021, Jayo disappeared near Wippo Creek, in the southwest corner of Queensland.

His disappearance was the subject of an extensive search and rescue operation, along with a criminal investigation and a coronial inquest.

On Thursday Coroner Donald MacKenzie handed down his findings which contained more questions than answers.

Police searched water coursed west of in 2021 after Jeremiah ‘Jayo’ Rivers disappeared.

He said that two members of the party Joe Joe Kantilla-Gaden and Mr Matthew Moore spoke to police about 8.10am on October 19, saying they have been in Queensland for about two weeks, and that Jayo had walked off from their camp.

Importantly, they did not mention the other four members.

Those four people were later stopped by police for a random breath test at Cunnamulla, at 11.20pm on October 20, where they told police they were camping with Jayo, and Joe Kantilla-Gaden and Mr Matthew Moore.

Mr MacKenzie said members of the party have given seven different accounts of how Jayo disappeared, including that he walked to a nearby dam for a swim and did not return, he chased after some pigs, chased runaway dogs, went to check yabby traps, and that he was high on meth and walked off.

Added to this was conflicting evidence that suggested the party bought meals for seven people at a pub the night Jayo went missing, and that party gave misleading statements about where their camp was located.

Mr MacKenzie said this suspicious activity can be explained away by the fact that several members of the party were smuggling cannabis from South Australia to the Northern Territory, and they had breached Covid-19 border restrictions.

“I consider foul play to be a live possibility,” he said.

“This is based on the lies told by them by the police … they have had ample time to reconstruct their story.

“While I am of the view that there is reasonable suspicion of homicide, I cannot identify the suspect.”

Queensland police continue to investigate the suspicious disappearance of 27-year-old Jeremiah Rivers. This is the last picture of him, taken at a pig hunting camp before he disappeared. He is in the centre of the image wearing a black basketball shirt.

“I cannot ignore that the lies were to hide their involvement with drugs and breaching Covid restrictions.”

Mr MacKenzie added that it was possible that Jayo did walk away from the camp and died from dehydration or kidney failure resulting from heat exhaustion.

He did however identify that the party’s lies significantly hampered the search effort.

“The search area was immense and wild pigs are well known to consume carcasses entirely,” Mr MacKenzie said.

“I have difficulty identifying any person who might have committed that crime beyond speculation.”

While he could not rule out foul play, Mr MacKenzie did make several recommendations regarding how police conduct search and rescue operations, namely that they clearly identify when an Indigenous person is involved, that they engage an Indigenous liaison person, and that all information about the search is made available to all police conducting it, regardless of rank.

In closing, Mr MacKenzie offered his condolences to Jayo’s family and reassured them that the police will continue to search for answers.

“The investigation remains open,” he said.

No charges have been laid over Jayo’s disappearance, the Covid-19 border crossing or drug smuggling.

Originally published as Coroner Donald MacKenzie hands down findings in Jeremiah ‘Jayo’ Rivers missing person inquest