The Lighthouse podcast: Police active in Byron Bay mystery

Police have secretly conducted new searches around Cape Byron Lighthouse as part of investigati­ons into the ­dis­appear­ance of Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez.

Missing Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez.

Police have secretly conducted new searches around Cape Byron Lighthouse as part of investigati­ons into the ­dis­appear­ance of Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez.

The renewed search effort is understood to have focused on finding Hayez’s missing mobile phone or other belongings and can be revealed as his family prepare­s to mark a year since he vanished from Byron Bay in northern NSW.

Detectives have also told Hayez’s family the results of DNA tests on hairs recovered from a hat found in bushland ­beside Byron’s Tallow Beach.

The hat matched Hayez’s favouri­te Puma cap, which he was wearing the night he vanished, and was on the route he walked before going missing.

But Byron Bay detectives told Hayez’s family not to discuss details­ of the investigation, including the DNA results and the new searches carried out in March. The directive follows close scrutiny of the police handling of the case, in The Australian’s ­investigative podcast The ­Lighthouse.

“Since the beginning of the year, we have spoken less public­ly about developments,” the family said in a Facebook update this week.

“Far from us giving up hope or dedication, the main reason is because the ongoing police proces­s means we need to be careful about what we say.

“We think about Theo every minute and would like to share any information that may help to find out what happened to him but we have to be careful that we also give the police the best chance of finding this out.

“It breaks our hearts every day and we hope that they will soon have some clarity for us.”

Hayez was 18 when he vanishe­d from Byron on the night of Friday, May 31.

His family was able to track his movements precisely via his mobile phone after gaining acces­s to his Google account.

The trail led to Cosy Corner at the northern end of Tallow Beach, beneath the lighthouse cliffs. Based largely on signals from Hayez’s phone, police suspect­ he accidentally fell while trying to climb the cliffs and that his body was washed away.

Family members say on the available evidence there are other equally probable scenar­ios, including foul play.

A local coroner was set to examine Hayez’s disappearance but following The Lighthouse podcast the case was taken over by the NSW Coroner.

Hayez’s godfather, Jean- Philippe Pector, said the family had requested the police brief of evidence and in particular was urgently seeking Telstra data used to track his movements.

The NSW Police Force ­declined to ­comment.