The Lighthouse: The case of missing tourist Theo Hayez
These are the people you’ll hear from, or about, during The Australian’s new podcast series, The Lighthouse.
Théo Hayez is missing in Byron Bay, a beachside town on Australia’s most easterly mainland point.
At the request of Théo’s relatives, The Australian’s national crime correspondent David Murray has spent six weeks with the unofficial search party, investigating the mystery disappearance for a new podcast series, The Lighthouse.
Here we introduce you to the people you will meet and others you will hear talked about in the podcast.
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Théo Hayez
Missing Belgian teenager, last seen leaving Cheeky Monkey’s Bar in Byron Bay about 11pm on Friday, May 31, 2019. Théo had been visiting family and backpacking around the country for just over six months before landing in Byron Bay in May. He was 18 at the time of his disappearance, and due to return to Belgium in less than two weeks.
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Laurent Hayez
Théo’s father. Following Théo’s disappearance Laurent travelled from Belgium to Australia to liaise with police, making a tearful appeal to the public to help find Théo and bring him home.
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Vinciane Delforge
Théo’s mother. Théo and Vinciane exchanged messages every day or two during his travels. Even when he didn’t say ‘hi’, Vinciane could see when her son had been active on his social media accounts. After more than four days of no contact and no account activity, Vinciane contacted Théo’s cousin Lisa and his godfather JP in Australia to alert them. Vinciane, from Brussels, also traveled to Byron after Theo went missing.
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Lisa Hayez
Théo’s cousin, 20 years old. Lisa arrived in Australia two months before Théo, and travelled and lived with her cousin in the months before his disappearance. Lisa was on a farm in Queensland when Théo went missing. Together with step-brother Michael Dorkhom, Lisa initiated a local search effort for Théo via Facebook.
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Michael Dorkhom
Step-brother of Lisa Hayez. An IT worker who has lived in Brisbane for five years. Michael last saw Théo just a week before his disappearance, when Théo visited Brisbane. Michael recalls Théo being happy, and saying how excited he was to be soon returning to Belgium where he planned to take up engineering studies.
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Jean-Philippe (JP) Pector
Théo’s godfather. JP lives in Victoria’s Otways near the Great Ocean Road, and helped Théo plan his Australian travels. Theo stayed several weeks with JP, his wife Julia and their children when he first arrived in Australia. Following Théo’s disappearance, JP was able to liaise with the bank to determine Théo’s last card transactions - at Cheeky Monkeys Bar.
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Julia Malcolm
Married to Theo’s godfather JP. Like others who knew Théo, Julia describes him as a planner. She wanted him to stay longer at their acreage.
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Antoine Van Laethem
A fellow Belgian backpacker who met Theo at the Wake Up! Hostel on May 31, hours before Théo went missing. The pair caught the hostel’s shuttle bus into town to buy some alcohol for a hostel barbecue that night, and later went to Cheeky Monkeys Bar together with some other travellers. Antoine was one of the last people to see Theo before his disappearance.
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Leesa Horne
Queensland beauty therapist Leesa Horne says she was driving south on the Pacific Highway just past Coffs Harbour in the early hours of June 2 when a man tried to wave her down, standing next to another man who was flat on the ground and “looked dead”.
That was four days before Theo’s family realised he had gone missing in Byron Bay, 240km north of Coffs Harbour. Like Theo, the man lying on the road was wearing light-coloured pants and black shoes, she says.
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Nicoletta Revis
Byron Bay local who has a jewellery business and is an artist. Has been helping Théo’s family since the day they arrived in Byron to look for him.
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Francesca Von Reinhaart
Francesca Von Rinhaart, 41, has been searching for Theo for months as part of the dedicated group of volunteers in the unofficial search team. She keeps turning up because she feels like she can’t let the other searchers down. Francesca lost her wedding ring one day when she was searching, and three weeks later found it at Tallow Beach. Twenty minutes after her discovery, Theo’s father told the searchers Theo’s cap had just been found nearby.
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Kim Goodrick
Kim Goodrick speaks to David in episode 5. Ms Goodrick’s 15-year-old-son Connor had an accident near Cosy Corner earlier this year when he tried to climb the cliffs south of the lighthouse. Connor plunged at least 15m to the bottom of the cliffs. His skull was shattered but he survived the fall and has made a remarkable recovery. Fisherman told Ms Goodrick that if Connor had fallen just an hour earlier, he would have fallen into the water and been washed straight out to sea because of the tide.
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Jimmy Keough
Byron Bay Surf Life Saving Club captain. Says lifesavers searched beaches and around the Cape Byron Lighthouse in the days immediately after Théo went missing, and found no sign of him.
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Noeline Smith
Noeline Smith has lived in Byron for 43 years. She is retired and spends her spare time helping the homeless. Noeline helped get the search for Theo started. Michael Dorkhom and Lisa Hayez first went to Byron on Saturday June 8. Noeline Smith turned up to help them search the next day, Sunday June 9.
Noeline says the search on Sunday June 9 was all guess work. She led a group through suburban streets to Byron’s Youth Activities Centre. Everyone calls it the YAC.
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Miriam and George Healy
Miriam and George Healy are originally from Galway. Miriam’s 56 and George’s 58. Miriam had a career on the London money market before retiring and moving to Australia. They’ve been part of the unofficial search group since the early days. A relative in Ireland had phoned them and asked if they’d heard about the missing kid from Belgium.
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Alizée Vanderveken
Cartographer Alizée Vanderveken is 29 and lives in Sydney. She is Belgian and has previously lived in Byron Bay, so she felt especially affected when she heard about Théo’s disappearance. Alizée was able to offer help by putting all of Théo’s known location points onto Google Maps, allowing searchers to follow his route precisely. Also helped with search maps for the volunteers so they could keep track of the areas they had already searched.
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Superintendent Dave Roptell
Superintendent Dave Roptell is the police district commander of the Tweed-Byron command. Supt Roptell says Belgium police have been helping in the search for Theo.
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Sheri D’Rosario
A Kiwi but has lived in Australia for almost half of her life. A clinical psychologist who lives in Byron and is one of the people leading the unofficial search and investigation, Sheri has a deep understanding of ambiguous loss. She wants Theo’s family to know his story.
Renee and Jacalyn Scott
Twin sisters aged 36 who live in Byron and are helping Theo’s family. When they were growing up, three people in their area went missing — Sabrina Ann Glassop, schoolgirl Jessica Gaudie and a British backpacker called Celena Bridge; the same killer is suspected of murdering all three of three. These earlier disappearances influenced their decision to join the search.
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Tommy Volk
Tommy Volk, 62, lives in a bush camp in Arakwal National Park near Tallow Beach. He calls himself a nomad. He says the area is extremely dark and hard to navigate at night without a torch. According to Theo’s Google data, Theo reached the area of Tommy’s camp on the night of his disappearance and then doubled back, giving it a wide berth without stopping. Tommy didn’t see Theo on the night of his disappearance.
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Mudjai
Performed the indigenous ceremony for Theo’s family and a small group of supporters at Tallow Beach. Lives in a small called Mullumbimby, north of Byron. Mudjai’s an artist and he educates young people and tourists about indigenous history and culture.
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Statement from Theo’s parents
“We would like to express our gratitude to David Murray and The Australian for their commitment to telling the story of Théo’s disappearance in the upcoming podcast. We welcome this collaboration with hope that answers can be found. We believe that Théo was not alone on the night that he disappeared and that sooner or later somebody must speak out. We are blessed to have the support of the incredible community in Byron Bay and loving friends and family. We have worked closely with David in the development of this podcast and believe that, along with the coroner’s investigation, it is the best way forward for now. We will not give up until we know what happened to Théo.”
~ Laurent Hayez and Vinciane Delforge
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