Lost Ones podcast: New drone search for John Norrish ‘murdered over $200 debt’ in Tasmania

John Norrish was a “bushman” who always wore an Akubra-style hat and Blundstone boots. Now a new search is underway to find his body. LISTEN TO THE PODCAST.

A coroner has begun investigating the Tasmanian missing persons case of John Norrish, sending drones over the island’s idyllic east coast in a bid to find clues.

Mr Norrish was a “bushman” who always wore an Akubra-style hat and Blundstone boots, vanishing without a trace from the peaceful, beachside town of St Helens almost four years ago.

His disappearance – and suspected homicide – was the subject of episode two in News Corp’s podcast The Lost Ones.

Since then, Tasmania’s Coronial Division has confirmed the matter is being investigated by a coroner, although a date for inquest has not yet been listed.

Mr Norrish’s sister Shirley Strochnetter said the Coronial Division had sent drones over St Helens, looking at where the missing man had lived and nearby, where he was said to have gone camping.

His niece Kylie Peake said the inquest was expected to go ahead this year.

“But we don’t want that inquest to say ‘yes we think he’s dead, we’re going to assume he’s dead, end of case’,” she said.

“We want to know what happened,” Mrs Strochnetter added.

“That’s the hardest part, not knowing what happened.

“It’s not that you ever forget. It’s always there in the back of your mind.”

Listen to episode 2 of The Lost Ones now:

John Norrish who went missing without a trace more recently in 2018. Picture: Rob Burnett

Mrs Strochnetter is not one to cry wolf.

But she knew deep in her bones “something was wrong” when her brother, the bushman, had not come home.

It wasn’t the first time John Norrish had disappeared.

A few years earlier, police had rescued him from a camping misadventure.

And because of that – because he had form – she claims officers in northeastern Tasmania didn’t flinch at the suggestion the 55-year-old, with his Akubra-style hat and Blundstone boots, might be in strife.

“They had no interest, because John was John. A bushman, swagman, whatever,” Mrs Strochnetter said.

“They just thought he was just a loner and didn’t have any family and thought no-one was going to care about him,” her daughter Kylie Peake added.

“They thought … he would just turn up. Well, guess what, he didn’t turn up.”

In the second episode of News Corp’s The Lost Ones podcast, the pair explain there is no way Mr Norrish “had gone camping” — he had not taken his swag, his tent or his fishing rod.

They are convinced he met with foul play, most likely over a $200 debt they discovered later.

“We know he is deceased. We know he is not coming back to us,” Mrs Strochnetter said.

John Norrish who went missing without a trace. His sister and niece are furious - they believe he was murdered over a $200 debt. Picture: Rob Burnett

After an SES search of the beaches near St Helens, when Mr Norrish was reported missing, the pair was left to comb for clues themselves.

Disturbingly, they found video footage of him leaving the local RSL on his beloved red push bike – CCTV police told them did not exist.

Last image of John Norrish from CCTV image at the St Helens RSL on November 25, 2018. Picture: Chris Kidd

They learned about an argument between Mr Norrish and another person in the main street of St Helens before he vanished in November 2018.

Shirley Strochnetter at home in Perth, Tasmania. Picture: Rob Burnett

Then they found someone selling his personal belongings.

“He even had John’s wallet. Like, why have you got John’s wallet?” Mrs Strochnetter said.

“He had bank cards, Medicare card, his Hydro card, his house and apartment card and he said ‘I’ve got John’s things and no-one’s f***ing getting them’.”

In their personal hunt for answers, the women are convinced they have encountered Mr Norrish’s killer and fear that person has gotten away with murder before.

“(They) said to us, ‘oh they won’t find him because I’ve already murdered someone and put him down the septic, and the police never ever found out about it,” Mrs Strochnetter said.

John Norrish who is still missing today. Picture: Rob Burnett

Sergeant John Delpero, who heads Tasmania Police’s Missing Persons Unit, said various searches were conducted in the days after Mr Norrish went missing but, as Mrs Strochnetter and Ms Peake explained, those weren’t conducted by police themselves.

The case will soon be investigated by Tasmania’s Coronial Division.

Ms Peake said faster investigative work could have prevented much of this.

“Thinking of John and what he potentially went through … we could potentially (have) been finding him and maybe saved his life,” Ms Peake said.

Instead all they have is the memory of their “quick witted … lost soul”.

“He was a real joker. He liked to joke and everyone had a nickname. He was a bit of a larrikin,” Mrs Strochnetter said.

To listen to episode two of The Lost Ones podcast, go to lostonespodcast.com.au

Originally published as Lost Ones podcast: New drone search for John Norrish ‘murdered over $200 debt’ in Tasmania