Father of man found dead inside sewage tank reminisces about his son

Police have launched an inquest into the mysterious death of a man a year after his body was found in a sewage tank on Brisbane’s bayside as a grief stricken dad searches for closure on what happened to his only son.

A GRIEF-STRICKEN father is still searching for answers a year after his only son was snatched away from him.

Barry Guise still remembers the last time he spoke to his son, Jason, before his body was found inside a sewage tank in the Brisbane bayside suburb of Wynnum.

Police investigations into the suspicious death are ongoing but are yet to produce any meaningful leads.

POLICE RELEASE CCTV FOOTAGE OF JASON GUISE

However, Mr Guise has no doubt his son, who was tied up with drugs, met with foul play.

Barry Guise, father of Jason Guise, appeals for information about his son's suspicious death during a press conference in Brisbane in June last year. Picture: AAP/Dan Peled

“He unfortunately got into drugs and then got clean but he was up and down,” he said.

“He was still a good person.

“I remember he was pretty angry with someone stealing some stuff from his house before this happened.

“His house was within a kilometre of the sewage treatment plant, so someone’s obviously put him in there and he was 90 to 100kg so I think it would have to be more than one person.”

Jason Guise’s body was found in a Wynnum sewage holding tank in May last year.

Jason, who was born in New South Wales, had some previous history with police in Brisbane but the 45-year-old was close to taking some advice his dad had given him to move cities.

A piece of advice Mr Guise believed would have saved his son’s life.

“He loved the bush, so I said ‘why don’t you move to Cairns or Darwin’ and he said he was going to in a few weeks but then he went missing,” he said.

“If he moved, I definitely think he’d be alive today.

“I tried everything I could to get him help when he got tied up in drugs, one person told me whatever I did to not give him money, so I took a hard line with him but what else could you do.”

CCTV footage of Jason Guise before his body was found.

Jason was reported missing on May 2 before his body was found on May 8.

He was last seen riding a bicycle past the Waterloo Bay Hotel on Berrima St, Wynnum at 7.16pm on April 21 with evidence suggesting he died shortly after.

Despite having troubles with the law and with drugs, Jason still had a close relationship with his dad, as well as his three sisters.

“He looked exactly like me and vice versa and he just loved his sisters,” Mr Guise said.

“He was just fun. He reminded me a lot of Steve Irwin, just the way he could make you laugh in any situation.

“He could go into a town and not know anyone and then a couple of days later, would know almost everyone.

“He called me for my birthday on April 20 but said ‘pop, I’ll call you tonight, I just have some things to do, and then I never heard from home again.

Ex Olympic diver Chantelle Newbery with her friend Jason Guise. Picture: Chantelle Newberry Facebook

“I still remember my daughter calling me and saying ‘pop, have you heard from Jason’ and I said no but that was normal for him, sometimes you wouldn’t hear from him for a while and then one week he’d call you every day.

“Then Mark Mooney from the police called me and said they couldn’t be 100 per cent sure but that they found a body at the treatment plant but once I heard that I knew it was him.”

Detective inspector Mark Mooney from the East Crime Group said the Bayside Criminal Investigation Branch and Homicide Squads have since conducted an extensive investigation into Jason’s last known movements.

Police and SES at the scene where the body of Jason Guise was found at Granada St Wynnum. Picture: Mark Cranitch

“Investigators are still to establish the circumstance of how Jason ended up in the sewage treatment plant,” he said.

“Investigators have completed an extensive report for the coroner and in doing so have requested an inquest into Jason’s death.”

Mr Guise said he as well as Jason’s other family and friends needed closure.

“That’s been the toughest thing over the past year is just not having any closure and it’s something we definitely need to move forward,” he said.

“I know the police are doing everything they can.

“We of course want whoever did this brought to justice, they have to be.

“If anyone has anything, any information about what happened to Jason, please call police.