Tragic end to hunt for Jeremy Boyden near Dargo
The body of Ferntree Gully man Jeremy Boyden has been found almost a week after he went missing in the Victorian High Country. It comes after police revealed they found his dog, Rocky, alive.
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The body of Jeremy Boyden has been found almost a week after he disappeared in the Victorian High Country.
His body was found about 8am near Upper Dargo Road. Police are not treating his death as suspicious.
Mr Boyden’s dog, Rocky the Jack Russell, was found about 4pm yesterday near Dargo High Plains Road, Dargo.
His condition is not known.
The small white and brown dog survived five nights in near-freezing conditions.
Police dirt bikes, foot patrols, Search and Rescue, Air Wing, Operational Response Unit, Mounted Branch and Canine Unit were being assisted by SES and Bush Search and Rescue.
Mr Boyden was last seen on Friday.
Yesterday deer hunters with extensive knowledge of remote huts and tracks were asked to help police in the search.
Police had hoped it was still possible that the 23-year-old Ferntree Gully man was alive, given he had sufficient survival skills to be living out of hunting huts.
“Given that the weather today is starting to turn sour, going into night five, it is starting to become quite concerning,” Sergeant Anthony Dessent said.
“We’ve searched a lot of huts, hutches and buildings.
“There’s a lot on the huts that aren’t on maps … so we’ve utilised local people here.”
Mr Boyden’s distressed parents came back to Dargo today.
They spoke with police for at least an hour and filled them in on more details of their son’s state of mind and his movements before he ran from his dad.
“They (his parents) are struggling,” Sergeant Dessent said.
“It’s a difficult thing for them.
“They are upset.”
Friends of Jeremy Boyden and police from the motorbike unit searching up near the historic Grant township above Dargo. @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/d2Psoi8mlR
— Tamsin Rose (@tamsinroses) July 23, 2019
His dog was spotted on a remote stretch of road between Dargo and the historic Grant township on Sunday.
A man saw the white and brown jack russell about 4pm near High Plains Rd.
He did not stop to pick up Rocky because he was unaware of the ongoing search.
The man came forward to police with the information today.
Police searches today focused around that area.
Around a dozen friends were helping police and volunteers scour the steep, dense bush near Dargo.
“The last four days we’ve been blessed. It’s been cold night but it’s been warm days,” Sergeant Anthony Dessent said.
“Things have changed overnight. We’ve got high winds and there has been some rain.
“We’ve had to reassess how we’re going to do things.”
Friends of Mr Boyden’s began to arrive in Dargo yesterday to assist in the search.
“It’s pretty devastating when you hear that your best friend has gone missing,” friend Jake Reid said.
“He’s a ripper. He’s always been the type of guy who’s been the life of the party.
“We just want him back.”
Horses Trevor and Cooper are heading back up into the bush as the search for missing man Jeremy Boyden enters its fifth day. Strong winds and rain are making the task harder. @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/IKVaBq3wKE
— Tamsin Rose (@tamsinroses) July 23, 2019
It remains unclear why the young man grabbed his dog Rocky and sprinted into the bush away from his father on a remote road north of Dargo on Friday.
Sergeant Dessent said yesterday: “We’re trying to build a picture of Jeremy.
“It can be very unpredictable up here, the weather, being wind and rain and snow.
“Every minute it goes by we are becoming more and more concerned.”
Members of the canine search and rescue team told the Herald Sun the terrain was “nine out of ten” on the scale of difficulty.
They covered more than 15km on foot on Monday.
SES leader Vincent Bigham said the tricky terrain was proving a problem.
“It’s a beautiful country but where they are searching is natural bush and it’s hard terrain,” he said.
“It’s very steep and it’s very rocky.”
The temperature was expected to drop below zero again overnight.
Mr Boyden went missing on Friday but was smiling and talking to business owners in Dargo the day before.
His car broke down on Wednesday and he spent a night on the porch of the town hall before walking to the General Store for a jerry can of diesel on Thursday morning.
Kerrie and Pete Leemon arrived to open the store said the young man was friendly and did not seem upset.
CCTV images from the Dargo General Store show a smiling Jeremy Boyden returning a jerrycan he borrowed from the owners on Thursday morning. He went missing the next day. The search for him expanded today. @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/wVsXuEl2n2
— Tamsin Rose (@tamsinroses) July 22, 2019
He filled a jerry can of petrol and walked back to his car before returning to the store with his ute for a full tank and a chat with the owners, who wished he had alerted them to his misfortune before spending the night in the cold.
“He’s been up here a couple of times over the past year,” Kerrie Leemon said.
“He said he was fine and he didn’t want to annoy anyone.”
“Looking back now, we probably should have asked him a few more questions,” Mr Leemon said.
“He didn’t seem distressed or anything.”
Mr Boyden told the couple he was heading back home to Ferntree Gully and headed on his way sometime around 11am on Thursday.
They did not realise anything was amiss until they spoke with his father late Friday when the frantic search began.
Mr Boyden’s family returned to their Ferntree Gully home on Sunday where they remain.
Police want to speak with anyone who may have seen the young man or who picked up anyone fitting his description since Friday to contact them.
A helicopter equipped with thermal imaging equipment was deployed late on Sunday night but no signs of human life were detected in the dense bushland.
Dargo property owner Brian Driscoll was not at his riverside home over the weekend but came up to check his various sheds and caravans for the young man on Monday.
“I checked my caravan to see if he was in there, but he wasn’t,” Mr Driscoll said.
“It would have been a perfect place to get out of the cold.
“The bush around here is so steep.”
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Dargo residents told the Herald Sun Mr Boyden was familiar with the area and he and his father were regulars at the pub over the years.
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