Police use hi-tech drones over Mendooran as hunt for clues into disappearance of Newcastle man James Hunter continues
Hi-tech drones have been used to capture tens of thousands of images across a large chunk of land in the centre of NSW as police continue their hunt for information into the disappearance of a farm worker four years ago.
Dubbo News
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Police have begun poring over tens of thousands of images captured by hi-tech drones across a large swath of land in central NSW as they continue to search for a farm worker who has not been seen for more than four years.
Newcastle man James Hunter was last seen by family around Christmas in 2019 before he travelled west and was captured on security vision outside a Dubbo pharmacy two months later.
The then 52-year-old had been known to work on properties at Dubbo, Mendooran and Dunedoo and also frequented the north-west towns of Walgett and Lightning Ridge looking for employment.
But after failing to make contact with his family for several months, worried relatives reported him missing to police in July 2021.
Strike Force Yurinigh was established by Orana Mid-Western police before his blue 2005-model Toyota HiLux ute was located in February 2022 on a property he was working at in Mendooran, about an hour north-east of Dubbo.
Police said the car was seized for forensic examination.
Police announced on Wednesday that they had spent two days outside of Mendooran last weekend, using hi-tech drones to carry out 52 flights over 1700ha of land north-west of the town.
“Investigators with the use of technology will commence processing the 33,000 high resolution images captured,” police said in a statement.
The development came as family and friends of Mr Hunter continue to raise awareness of his disappearance, including establishing a Facebook page
“He is very much loved and missed by his family and we are desperately seeking and needing answers,” Mr Hunter’s former partner, who only wished to be identified as Maree, told NewsLocal on Wednesday.
The disappearance has baffled police since he was reported missing.
The last confirmed sighting of Mr Hunter, who had lived in the Newcastle suburb of Tighes Hill but regularly took extended work stints across large sections of the state’s central west and north west, was when he was captured on CCTV at a Macquarie St pharmacy in Dubbo on February 28, 2020.
“Police and family continue to hold concerns for James’ welfare, and are renewing their appeal to the community to come forward with any information that may assist detectives with their ongoing investigations,” police said in a statement.
“James is described as being caucasian in appearance, about 175cm tall, of a medium build with brown hair and eyes.
“Anyone who has information in relation to James’ whereabouts or of relevance to the investigation is urged to contact Dubbo police station on 02 6883 1599 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.”
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