Theo Hayez’s family claim hat belongs to missing backpacker

The family of a backpacker missing from Byron Bay say they are “certain” a distinctive hat found in bushland belongs to the missing man.

The family of missing backpacker Theo Hayez say they believe a hat found in bushland in Byron Bay belongs him.

The grey Puma hat was found in bushes near Tallows Beach in July, more than five weeks after the Belgian backpacker went missing.

The hat, the same as one worn by the backpacker on the night he disappeared, was found on July 7 in an area near where his mobile phone is believed to have sent its last signal on June 1 — the day after he was last seen in a Byron bar.

After the hat was discovered, it was sent for forensic testing to determine if it belonged to Theo.

In an update posted to Facebook page “Looking for Theo Hayez”, the family said while “no DNA results have been released publicly and may not be for some time, the family is certain that it is Theo’s hat”.

Theo has been missing since May.

Constable Shane Lawson holds the Puma hat. Picture: Jane Hanson

Theo’s family have now said they believe the hat belongs to the teen. Picture: Jane Hanson

Theo Hayez (right) was last seen in Byron Bay on May 31.

Theo, who was 18 when he disappeared, has not been seen since he left Cheeky Monkey’s Bar in Byron Bay about 11pm on May 31.

His phone last sent a “ping” in the area near Cape Byron at 1.42pm on June 1. Investigators believe his phone may have been in “sleep mode” when it sent its final signal.

The hat was discovered by a volunteer search group, which has continued to scour the area for any trace of the missing teen since he disappeared more than five months ago.

The case was referred to the coroner in September, when Theo’s father Laurent Hayez returned to Australia for an update on the investigation. Theo’s 19th birthday was on September 29. The teenager had been travelling around Australia for five months when he went missing.

HACKERS SEARCH FOR THEO

Over the weekend, Theo’s case was marked as one of the 12 missing person cases to be investigated by the National Missing Person’s Hackathon.

The Hackathon involved law enforcement empowering about 350 “ethical hackers” across 10 locations around the country to use their online sleuthing skills to generate new leads for law enforcement to crack cold cases. The joint initiative involved the AustCyber Canberra Cyber Security Innovation Node, the Australian Federal Police, the National Missing Persons Co-ordination Centre and Trace Labs. Hackers don’t engage with victims’ families and are discouraged from speculating on the intelligence they gather.

The results were profound, with 100 leads generated for every 10 minutes the teams worked, according to the ABC. The hackers worked using a combination of “open source intelligence”, meaning publicly available data, and information collected from the dark web to gather intelligence.