Family hopes ‘body in the dunes’ probe will solve mystery

Two years ago today, a teenager stumbled across Simon Gaskill’s body at a popular beach. His desperate family is still waiting for answers.

A young Simon Gaskill.

A coronial and police investigation into the death of a man whose body lay undiscovered for weeks in sand dunes at one of Victoria’s most popular beaches continues to “compile additional information” as his family remains hopeful of a breakthrough.

Monday marks the second ­anniversary of a holidaying teenager stumbling across Simon Gaskill’s remains at Ocean Grove beach and a year since The Australian featured the mystery as a magazine cover story, a report that prompted the coroner to reopen the inquiry.

The 51-year-old surfer’s sister is pinning hopes on the fresh inquiry uncovering clues about the mystery.

“We’ve been searching for ­answers for two years and unfortunately we’re still waiting,” she told The Australian.

“Simon was a much loved son and brother and we’re not going to give up. Hopefully we’ll get some answers soon.

“It’s still raw for us and maybe at the end of it (the inquiry) we may not be any the wiser but at least we’ll know it has been looked into properly, and that in itself can provide some form of closure.”

On May 8, just three weeks after the report was published, deputy state coroner Jacqui Hawkins took the rare step of reopening the investigation, citing fresh details about the life and death of Gaskill contained in the magazine story.

“The investigation into the death of Simon Gaskill is ongoing,” a spokesperson for the coroner said last week.

“The coroner is continuing to compile additional information to inform the investigation.”

When she reopened the inquiry, Ms Hawkins said ‘‘new facts and circumstances’’ revealed by The Australian had compelled her to set aside her first finding ­delivered on July 25, 2022, that the cause of death had been ­“unascertained”.

Dad Chris Gaskill, sister Amanda Gaskill and best friend Cam Miller near where Simon Gaskill’s body was found. Photo: Julian Kingma

The April 15, 2023 cover story in The Weekend Australian Magazine

‘‘Having reviewed the application (from the Gaskill family) and the article in The Weekend Australian Magazine … I am satisfied that the application and the article constitute new facts and circumstances that were not known to me at the time I finalised my finding,’’ Ms Hawkins stated in her five-page decision.

‘‘I am satisfied these new facts and circumstances make it appropriate to set aside some or all of my findings and reopen the investigation.’’

The family has claimed that Victoria Police “shut down” the original investigation into the death of Gaskill, who had been suffering mental health issues and living rough for months before his death.

The magazine report raised ­serious questions about the professionalism of the original police investigation into the mystery at Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula.

Gaskill’s body was found lying face down, near a tent in which he had been living, and his backpack was still strapped to his back.

His mobile phone was missing and has still not been found.  The Gaskill family voiced concerns that local police ‘‘brushed aside’’ the investigation because they considered him to be a ‘‘homeless guy who just died in the dunes’’.

Simon Gaskill, aged in his teens, in the surf. Photo: Supplied

“They didn’t see my brother as important,’’ Amanda Gaskill said last year.

The Gaskill family says the police investigation was negligent and failed to find his mobile phone or search his call and text data, which the family hopes will provide some clues about what he was up to and who he might have been in contact with.

Gaskill’s father, Chris, is also critical of the police.

“The police just ticked the boxes they needed to tick and that was the end of it. It was very dismissive,” he said.

Best friend Cameron Miller has confirmed he was exchanging texts with his mate as late as March 26, 19 days before his body, in an advanced state of decomposition, was found.