Man shares ‘creepy’ tale of rumoured Byron Bay serial killer

A young man’s spooky experience in Byron Bay has blown open a chilling rumour about the coastal tourist hotspot.

An Aussie has detailed the “creepy” experience that led him to believe a rumoured serial killer might still be lurking around one of the country’s biggest tourist spots.

Bodhi Jako, a Queensland-based travel influencer, shared his tale of a late-night encounter with an unknown man who was spotted outside a Byron Bay home.

“I’m staying in a town where there is an alleged serial killer, and there’s a pretty good chance I met him,” he claimed.

Mr Jako told his 116,000 TikTok followers he stayed in the northern NSW beachside town last year with a friend, who had noted “questionable things” that had happened there.

Two girls lived at the home, he said, and they had “creepy notes and anonymous flowers” dropped at their front door.

“One night they woke up to noises outside of their window, and when they opened the curtains, there was a man standing there,” he said.

The blogger claimed he was sleeping near a window in the home during his stay when he experienced another mysterious incident.

Influencer Bodhi Jako shared his spooky story. Picture: TikTok

Jeremy Buckingham has highlighted the unsolved cases. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dylan Coker

“At about 2am I just wake up for no particular reason … and I look to my right, there is a little bit of rustling,” he said.

“There is a head poked through those curtains in the early hours of the morning, watching.

“As soon as the man sees me, the head shoots back through the curtains and that was that.”

He said a “bunch of other creepy stuff” eventually forced the girls to move out of the home.

“That guy who poked his head through the curtains could be responsible for all of the people that have gone missing.”

The so-called “Byron Bay Butcher” or North Coast serial killer has become a hot topic on the social media platform since renewed scrutiny fell on missing women in the area last year.

Upper House member Jeremy Buckingham cast light on the mystery surrounding 67 women who disappeared or died from Newcastle to Tweed Heads between the 1970s and mid 2000s.

The tourist haven of Byron Bay. Picture: Supplied/Byron Bay tourism

Mr Buckingham told state parliament in October that senior police had informed him of the view “causal links” existed between some of these cases.

“I’ve been called, by some alarmist, because my view and the view of senior police like Detective Gary McEvoy who investigated these matters from Coffs Harbour, is that they were and are linked,” he said.

“It is impossible to think that there are 67 murderers that have escaped justice in that area … all individuals. Someone has done these things repeatedly.”

He went on to claim “worst serial killer in the nation’s history has gotten away with it”.

“There is someone on the North Coast that has murdered as many or more (than Ivan Milat) and they are still amongst us, if they haven’t died or fled the country,” Mr Buckingham told the parliament.

Robyn Hickie, 18, disappeared from Belmont in 1979.

Leanne Goodall, 20, went missing from Newcastle in 1978.

A NSW Police spokesperson said at the time several strike and task forces have probed the disappearance of women on the state’s North Coast over the years.

“To this date, there is no evidence to indicate a common offender was responsible for the disappearances,” they said in a statement.

“The matters remain under investigation by State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad Unsolved Homicide Team and the Missing Person Registry.”

Coverage of Mr Buckingham’s campaign for a special commission of inquiry into the suspected abductions sparked some women to come forward with terrifying stories.

Melbourne woman Kayley claimed a passing car alerted her to a glove-wearing man who was following close behind her in the suburb of Suffolk Park.

She said the man disappeared down a side street or into a front yard when she turned around.

“Every single part of me felt like that was a really, really close encounter with something really evil,” she said.

There are other unsolved disappearances in celebrity haven Byron Bay, including that of Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez who went missing in 2019.

The 18-year-old was never seen again after leaving Cheeky Monkeys bar on May 31, 2019.

An inquest found the teenager likely died that night but was unable to determine a cause or manner of death.

Originally published as Man shares ‘creepy’ tale of rumoured Byron Bay serial killer