Police, SES resume search for man with one shoe missing in Victoria’s high country near Dargo
The search for a Ferntree Gully man who has spent two freezing days and nights missing on the Dargo High Plains will resume first thing Monday morning as police and State Emergency Service crews scour bush for him.
VIC News
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Police remain hopeful they will find a 24-year-old Melbourne man missing near Dargo, three days after he disappeared into the bush with his dog.
At least 50 police and SES have been scouring the dense, steep bush northeast of the Victorian high country township for any sign of Jeremy Boyden and Rocky the Jack Russell.
Rescue efforts are focused on the area uphill from Two Mile campground, as well as around Upper Dargo Rd.
SES, Victoria Police crews and bush walking volunteers spent Sunday searching private properties, hunting lodges and the dense bush.
They also hunted alongside the river at the bottom of the valley.
Ground patrols through the steep landscape have been called off for the night and will resume Monday morning when it was safe to do so.
The man’s parents and friends were helping with the search until early Sunday when they returned home to Ferntree Gully.
“Mum and Dad are obviously upset, a little bit emotional. They felt it best to go home,” Sergeant Anthony Dessent said.
“At this stage, it is difficult and it is a vast area and it’s very rugged terrain and it is difficult, but we’re still fairly confident he’s out there alive somewhere.
“Time is ticking. He’s been out in the cold two nights in a row. There will be no stone left unturned.”
SES, Police search and rescue and the air wing are scouring the land for clues and will continue into tomorrow.
“We’re expanding that (search) area,” Sergeant Dessent said.
“(On Monday) we’re expecting some more search and rescue members along with some additional SES.”
The missing man is familiar with the area and is “fairly fit and healthy” according to police.
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He was reported missing by his father after the pair, who were in the area for bush walking and gold prospecting, had an argument on Friday about noon, pulled over beside the road and became separated.
“After some searching of his own, that’s when the father has notified us that his son has gone missing,” Sergeant Dessent said.
“There was some sort of discussion.
“The son said he wanted something out of the back of the four-wheel drive and what’s happened there I’m not really sure but they have become separated.”
Police believe the man did not have much if any food or provisions on him when he left the car with his father.
The Boyden family faced tragedy less than three years ago, when Jeremy’s older brother Chris died in a motorcycle accident on the West Gate Bridge.
Just 25, Chris was killed when he lost control of his motorcycle and collided with a truck on his way to work.
His girlfriend Claire Coulter said they had so many plans -- for marriage, children, and an overseas trip of a lifetime.
“Now all I have is memories,” she told the Herald Sun in 2016.
“He was really funny. he’d always try to make me laugh and smile.”
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