Marc Mietus disappearance: $500k reward offered as police launch new cold case investigation
The father of a man believed murdered after vanishing 24 years ago has told of the “hard decision” he’d had to make during what was to be their last ever conversation, as police announce a $500k reward and the launch of a fresh investigation.
Police & Courts
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The last time Kris Mietus spoke to his son, he was forced to honour the promise he’d made when Marc made the move to Queensland.
“If I ring and ask for money, just say no,” 21-year-old Marc had said.
Marc had called from a service station on the Bruce Hwy at Gympie where he’d filled up his car, despite not having the money to pay.
“It was a hard decision,” Kris said.
“I said ‘Marc, remember our discussion?’. And he left his phone and licence as security, never to come back.
“But then again, if I gave him the money at the time, things probably wouldn’t have changed.”
The Mietus family have spent 24 years not knowing what happened to Marc, a bright, talented, much-loved athlete who fell in with the wrong crowd.
They hope a $500,000 reward and fresh investigation will finally give them the answers they have been seeking.
Marc was last seen alive in Booyal, 27km north of Childers, on January 26, 2000.
Both police and his family believe he was murdered, possibly over an unpaid debt.
The youngest of three children, Marc was born and raised in Melbourne. As a teenager, he was selected to play for a feeder team for an AFL club.
Football was his dream, and when he was dropped from the team, he was devastated.
“It’s tragic, because the world was his oyster,” Kris said.
“I basically said, look, you’ve got to get up and go again, prove to yourself that you’re good enough.”
When Marc’s parents separated around the same time, he “fell in with the wrong crowd” and began using drugs.
“We tried to get him counselling,” Kris said.
In 1997, Marc moved to Queensland for a fresh start and made friends in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
When he lost contact with his family, his older sister Prue went looking for him. She found him in Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre where he’d been sent after police found him in a stolen car.
“I sent a letter to the prison,” she said.
“He wrote back and then we went up there to visit him.”
Marc was released in 1999 and went home to Melbourne where he moved in with his mother. She bought him a car – a 1985 white Ford Falcon ute – and he got work as a plumber.
They celebrated his 21st as a family – their last ever family gathering before Marc again left for Queensland.
Homicide Cold Case Detective Senior Sergeant Tara Kentwell said Marc left for Queensland in his ute on January 6, 2000.
On the way, he picked up a hitchhiker at Gilgandra in New South Wales and drove the man to his home in Booyal.
“This was how Marc came to live in a caravan at the 44-hectare property at Booyal for 19 days prior to his disappearance,” she said.
She said on January 18 at 11.30am, he stopped at the Shell service station in Gympie where he’d been unable to pay for his fuel.
“He advised staff he was travelling to Hervey Bay and would return to pay and collect his property. Marc never returned,” Det Sen Sgt Kentwell said.
“A witness recalled a person seated in the passenger seat of the ute who did not exit the vehicle. The person is described as about 30 years of age with shoulder length long dark hair.”
She said later that day, Marc traded in his ute for a red and white Honda trail bike.
On January 19, he was pulled over by police in Holland Park West riding the bike – a passenger with him.
A week later, in the early hours of January 26, Marc went to the house of a friend, quietly packed his belongings and left on his bike.
He was spoken to by police at 2.45am at the Matilda Service Station south of Gympie and arrived back at the Booyal property at 6.30am.
“Marc was distant and his speech disjointed,” Det Sen Sgt Kentwell said.
The owner of the property asked Marc to pay his rent and Marc said he needed to call a friend to ask for money.
He left on his motorbike and rode to the nearby Booyal Roadhouse where he made three calls from a payphone to a person in Brisbane before returning home to his caravan.
“One witness advised police that on a day unknown around 26 January 2000 he saw a tan coloured XD model Ford sedan with an alloy bull bar and standard wheels leave (the Booyal property) and travel towards the Booyal Roadhouse, with Marc possibly as a passenger. The exact date cannot be determined.
“To date this vehicle and the occupants have never been identified.”
Det Sen Sgt Kentwell said police believe Marc was involved in the use and production of drugs at the time of his disappearance.
She said more than 200 inquiries have been made and 104 statements taken.
A search of the Booyal property will be conducted over the weekend.
Police would like to speak to anyone with knowledge of Marc’s last movements in January, 2000 – particularly anyone who knows the identity of his passenger on the day he was unable to pay for fuel or information on the brown XD Ford sedan.
Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000.
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