Mystery bones in septic tank could be 1980s murder victim

POLICE have identified human remains found in an old septic tank as belonging to a man who went missing in the 1980s.

POLICE have identified human remains found in an old septic tank as belonging to Wayne James Youngkin.

Mr Youngkin lived at the property in the north Brisbane suburb of Brighton before going missing 30 years ago.

Police say the last documentation of Mr Youngkin was when he applied for a passport in 1986.

Investigators hope a mystery male caller who rang Sandgate Police Station in August 1992 may hold the clue to Mr Youngkin’s murder.

Mr Youngkin lived at the property with an uncle and his grandmother, both of whom have since passed away.

Detective Inspector Mick O’Dowd said as far as he was aware, the property was never searched when Mr Youngkin was reported missing.

Police have spoken to a number of people who lived in the area at the time, but Det Insp O’Dowd couldn’t confirm if police had any suspects.

The cause of Mr Youngkin’s death is still yet to be determined but, given the way his body was found, is being treated as a murder.

He was born in 1956 and was aged 29 or 30 when he went missing.

Det Insp O’Dowd said police believed the male caller was still alive and he had provided “quite specific” information regarding what they believed was the cause of death.

Police have appealed for anyone with information about Mr Youngkin to contact them.

HOPES FOR JUSTICE

Earlier a friend of the man told news.com.au he hoped Mr Youngkin’s killer may finally be brought to justice.

When news spread that bones of an adult man had been found in the disused tank on a property in Brighton, the friend thought at once “it’s him”.

The grisly discovery of the bones on Tuesday has led Queensland police to search through missing people and cold case files to find the identity of the victim.

But a former Brighton resident told news.com.au a man called Wayne Youngkin lived at the North Rd address in the late 1980s before he vanished without a trace.

The friend, who lived in the area and knew Mr Youngkin well, said there had been speculation and rumour about what happened to him from the moment he disappeared.

As soon as she heard about the bones, she was certain it was him.

The septic tank where the adult bones were found. Picture: Channel 7

“The skeleton will end up being Wayne … who went missing over 25 years ago from that address,” the friend, who asked not to be named, told news.com.au.

Mr Youngkin was aged in his late twenties or early 30s at the time and had been living on the block of land, which has been owned by Autism Queensland since 1987.

He was last seen at the end of 1986.

“It will be wonderful to finally have closure. I hope the police will be able to pick up from where they left off in their investigations all those years ago.”

She said there had been talk of him being run down by a car. But that was never proven, and a search for his body in swampland near Sandgate revealed nothing.

But she clung to hope investigators would find forensic material, such as bloodstained clothing, that could prove what happened to him — and who did it.

“With luck, the perp made a mistake and DNA matching will lead to an arrest,” the friend said.

Police at the Brighton property. Picture: Liam Kidston

The Brighton property has been declared a crime scene. Picture: Liam Kidston

Detective Acting Superintendent Mick O’Dowd.

News.com.au understands friends of Mr Youngkin have already been interviewed by detectives, as have people close to a man who was considered a suspect at the time he disappeared.

Although the discovery of the bones meant there could be an imminent end to the mystery spanning decades, there wouldn’t be “closure” until someone was held accountable and “put in jail”, the friend said.

Acting Detective Superintendent Mick O’Dowd told reporters on Thursday morning the examination of the pit was almost complete and most of the remains had been taken away for forensic testing.

“That will take some time. Examination for DNA and those types of things, as you understand in this situation, will be difficult and will be time consuming,” he said.

“Only a small amount of bones remain,” he said.

He revealed the amount of clothing found in the pit was limited to not much more than a single “running or jogger’s” shoe.

Acting Supt Dowd said information provided to Crime Stoppers was assisting the inquiry that, combined with speaking to people about missing people in the area, led police to believe the man was killed about 30 years ago.

“We are looking at a number of people that we believe may have disappeared from that area, or reported missing from that area, going back about 30 years,” he said.

He confirmed a homicide inquiry was under way because of the way the body was found. It was likely whoever dumped the body there had some knowledge of the area, he said.

“The conclusion would be that someone would have known the pit was there,” he said.

There was only “a small number” of people the victim could be, but the “passage of time” meant family members could have since died.

Despite that, Acting Sup O’Dowd was confident the victim would be identified.

— With AAP

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