Body, believed to be of Whittington man Darren Blake found in You Yangs
A body found in the You Yangs is believed to be that of a local hiker, who sparked a major search after going missing a week ago.
Geelong
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The wide-scale search for a missing hiker north of Geelong has come to a tragic end, a week after the Whittington man was last seen.
Victoria Police discovered the body of a man, believed to be that of Darren Blake, on Sunday afternoon.
Police will prepare a report for the coroner and the death is not being treated as suspicious.
The discovery comes after an extensive multi-agency search, which started on Wednesday.
Mr Blake was last sighted on Forest Rd North in Lara about 12.20pm last Sunday.
He had not been seen or heard from since and his bank account remained untouched.
Mr Blake, who regularly hiked walking trails around Geelong, caught a train to Lara before setting off on foot towards the You Yangs.
It’s understood security footage captured him leaving Gemini Court in Whittington about 10am that day. Mr Blake was then sighted on CCTV at the Lara train station a short time before his last confirmed sighting.
It’s still unclear why he didn’t drive to the regional park, about 30 minutes out of Geelong.
His sister Melanie and her partner Steven Barrett said his disappearance was out of character.
“He drives up here and usually does the hikes … quite regularly,” Mr Barrett said.
Police believe Mr Blake may have become disoriented.
His phone had been switched off since Sunday.
The search area spanned 2000 hectares and rises sharply from the flat volcanic plains between Melbourne and Geelong.
Earlier in the week it was reported that Mr Blake’s sister had joined the more than 80 strong volunteer group searching for him.
State Emergency Service volunteers from as far as Ballarat and Frankston were in attendance earlier in the week and a busload of Bush Search and Rescue Victoria members were seen on site.
Their search wrapped up on Sunday. Temperatures overnight on Saturday dipped as low as 3C.
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Originally published as Body, believed to be of Whittington man Darren Blake found in You Yangs
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