Police confirm skeleton found near drug plantation, scour North QLD missing person cases
More information has come to light about the area where skeletal remains were found on the Burdekin River, with police confirming the area was used to grow drugs.
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More information has come to light about the area where skeletal remains were found in a tent on the Burdekin River.
Police have addressed rumours around a cannabis plantation locals believed was in that area.
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Ayr Police Criminal Investigations Branch officer in charge Detective Sergeant Gavin Neal said there was evidence in the vicinity of where the skeletal remains had been located of a previous cannabis plantation.
However initial investigations suggest there were no crops growing and no evidence the deceased had been involved in the production of cannabis.
Detective Inspector Chris Lawson, of the Townsville Crime Group, said police were gathering clues to help identify the skeleton.
“We still have to go to obviously go through all the coronial processes to identify anything we can around the deceased and person and also the circumstances of the death,” he said.
“At this stage we are keeping our minds open, not only in relation to the cause of death but to whom the person is that has died.
“With only skeletal remains it is very difficult for us to commence those investigations until we start getting to a definitive point
“We are going through all the missing person reports for people missing in the area and there are a number of those, so we will be conducting those investigations as the day goes on.”
Insp Lawson believed the body had been in the tent for a “significant period of time”, likely years.
He said the skeletal remains were found by the fishermen along a remote stretch of the Burdekin River, on a high point unaffected by floods.
“These people were just walking along the river, having a look for spots to fish, went for a walk away from the river and came across the swag and the skeleton,” he said.
Reports dating back in 2015, suggest a man, mistaken as a sighting of Mick Isles, had been living in various locations along the banks of the Burdekin River.
The suspicious man, known only at the time as Ian was reported to police as a possible sighting of Mick Isles, said to have matched his age and height.
According to the report, police spoke with ‘Ian’ at a Burdekin River embankment where he was described as “casually relaxing and keeping an eye on a crocodile”.
At the time ‘Ian’ was said to have been about 58 years old.
Originally published as Police confirm skeleton found near drug plantation, scour North QLD missing person cases