By Lachlan Abbott
A 22-year-old man was arrested in Victoria on Saturday, becoming the fourth person taken into custody after a Melbourne-raised teenager was found dead on an outback road in the Northern Territory.
A driver discovered 19-year-old Yiel Deng Gatluak – also known as Yoal – lying on an unsealed part of Undoolya Road east of Alice Springs shortly after midday on New Year’s Day.
Melbourne teenager Yiel Deng Gatluak was found dead on a dirt road near Alice Springs.Credit: iStock/supplied
Last Monday, Northern Territory Police arrested two Alice Springs men, aged 20 and 21, and a male youth over the suspicious death.
On Saturday, NT police said another man had been taken into custody by Victoria Police after an arrest warrant for murder was issued in Alice Springs on Friday. Victoria Police confirmed the 22-year-old man was arrested in Pakenham just before 9.30am.
Yiel Gatluak grew up in Melbourne’s south-east.
“NT police detectives have flown to Victoria overnight and an application will be made to a Victorian court today to have him extradited back to the Northern Territory,” NT police said in a statement.
Gatluak’s father Deng Gatluak confirmed to this masthead on Wednesday that his son had died.
The teen’s uncle, David Kong, and Chuol Yat, chair of the African Association of Central Australia, also verified his death.
Gatluak, one of eight children, was raised in Patterson Lakes and attended high school in Dandenong before his family moved to Doveton.
Kong and Yat said he moved to Alice Springs looking for work about two years ago, finding a job as a mechanic. He laid down roots for his parents and older brother, who is wheelchair-bound after a car accident about five years ago, to follow him to central Australia.
But on January 2, Deng Gatluak picked up the phone and was told his son was dead.
“It’s something that is horrible, and you can’t even begin to describe your feelings,” he said, adding his son was “a lovely person”.
“I cannot describe all his life, but we love him as a family and a community. He’s got a lot of friends.”
Last week, Gatluak’s parents and extended family travelled into the outback to find the spot the teenager was found along a dusty red dirt road to Undoolya Station – the oldest cattle station in the Northern Territory.
They erected a small memorial cross, laid flowers, sang, and grieved in the barren scrubland 15 kilometres from Alice Springs.
“My son has left us in that place – we cannot forget it,” Gatluak’s father said.
NT Police Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst did not specify the victim’s injuries at a press conference on Tuesday, but said they were not “penetrative”.
Yiel Deng Gatluak, also known as Yoal.
“We are still waiting on our forensic pathologist to provide us the additional detailed information,” Wurst told reporters.
Gatluak’s family met with NT Police Chief Commissioner Michael Murphy on Wednesday.
“We really appreciate him coming to speak with us,” Gatluak’s father said. “[We want] justice to be fast, and that’s what we told him.”
Kong said the family started to worry about the teenager when he didn’t answer multiple calls as dusk fell on New Year’s Day.
“He was a very loving, caring young boy,” Kong said. “He had a good heart, and was very friendly to everyone in the community.”
Northern Territory Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, the Coalition’s shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, expressed her sadness on Facebook about “the loss of life of a young man who had such a bright future”.
The centre of Alice Springs in January last year.Credit: Kate Geraghty
“I hope family and the African community find justice and understand that the Alice Springs community stands with you in this time of sadness,” she wrote on Tuesday.
Gatluak’s family are now raising money to bring his body back to Victoria for a burial.
Yat, the African Association of Central Australia chair, said some in Alice Springs remained scared after Gatluak’s death, particularly among the South Sudanese community, many of whom had moved there for work.
“Everybody wants to know that the town is still safe for them,” Yat said. “Because if it is not safe for them, then why would they remain here?”
Investigators seized a black Ford Ranger dual-cab ute last week that police believe was driven around Alice Springs from early morning to early afternoon on New Year’s Day. The owner did not have the vehicle at the time and is not a suspect.
Police urged anyone who saw the ute on January 1 or has dashcam footage to come forward.
Crime Stoppers can be contacted anonymously on 1800 333 000 or through www.crimestoppersnt.com.au
John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld. Subscribers can sign up to receive his Naked City newsletter every Thursday.
clarification
NT Police Commissioner Travis Wurst later clarified the man arrested in Melbourne was considered an Alice Springs resident, but had associates in Victoria.