4m monster croc claim made at Markiah Major inquest
A giant crocodile was known to frequent the waterway near where a teen went missing in Far North Queensland, an inquest has heard.
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A giant crocodile was known to frequent the waterway near where a teen went missing in Far North Queensland, an inquest has heard.
The barrister representing Yarrabah teen Markiah Major’s mother asked the Cairns Coroner’s Court to investigate “crocodile behaviour” after the inquest heard a 4m crocodile known to locals as “John” was known to frequent the area where the 17-year-old went missing.
Andrea Lawrence, counsel representing Kamara Major, told the court that a croc was known to the community and was known to visit the upstream mouth area of a waterway near the end of Back Beach Rd, Yarrabah where a stolen Volkswagen Polo linked to Markiah was found dumped on August 19.
The 17-year-old went missing on August 15 and the Volkswagen Polo was found dumped at a remote location in Yarrabah at the end of Back Beach Rd, and was later linked to Markiah.
“Down near the river’s mouth, upstream, there have been reports of a crocodile of between four and six metres long,” Ms Lawrence told the court.
Northern Coroner Stephanie Williams asked Ms Lawrence if the croc had a name to which members of the gallery from the Yarrabah community called out “John”.
Ms Lawrence was asking the court to consider taking evidence of “general crocodile behaviour and biology” at the second phase of the inquest, which will begin on June 27.
Counsel assisting the coroner Matt Jackson told the court he was not sure if evidence about general crocodile behaviour “would be as helpful as it may first appear”.
He noted the court had heard Queensland National Parks had not done any recent crocodile surveys in the area because of the remoteness and density of the location.
“What we have is anecdotal evidence,” Ms Williams said.
Ms Williams added that changes in crocodile behaviour after attacking or consuming a human occured within a subsequent two-week window, and that time had long passed.
She did not make a final decision about whether she would take more evidence about crocodile behaviour in the inquest’s second phase.
Earlier, Detective Sergeant Glenn Wallwork had to pause his testimony for more than two minutes after he became emotional trying to explain possible reasons “the elements (of a rainforest in Far North Queensland) may cause someone to die”.
Sergeant Wallwork kept on attempting to speak, but then stopped and apologised before pausing for several minutes.
“I guess someone could survive for three days without water, but we know there are several water sources there,” he told the court.
“But you could survive for three weeks without food.”
Sergeant Wallwork had said the police had scoured the area, dived into surrounding creeks, brought in human remains detection dogs, and used advanced drone technology in searching for the teen.
He said police had considered that Markiah could have been on drugs including methamphetamines when he got out of the stolen Volkswagen Polo.
“When looking for someone lost in the forest we know they will follow the easiest path through – if someone has dementia or is on drugs, their path becomes a lot more unpredictable,” he said.
He said the terrain around the car was extremely dense and mostly impenetrable.
The police dogs worked the area until they “stopping working because they were exhausted”.
He said they found a shoe, known to be a slip-on worn at Cleveland Detention Centre, in the Polo and another a few dozen metres away from the vehicle.
Mr Wallwork ended his testimony by apologising to the family.
“I would just like to say to the parents, how sorry I am that we weren’t able to find your son. We did everything we could,” he said.
Several members of the Yarrabah community began to cry audibly after he delivered his apology.
The first part of the inquest concluded on Wednesday and will return to court on June 27.
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Originally published as 4m monster croc claim made at Markiah Major inquest
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