Witness reveals details of the man he saw walking near the place Paul Stevenson vanished almost 10 years ago

It’s been almost a decade since Bundaberg dad Paul Stevenson vanished. Now, a shocking revelation about a man seen in the area on the day he went missing has come to light.

Rod Gear (pictured in a file photo, left) says he saw a man in biker gear casually walking near where Bundaberg man Paul Stevenson vanished almost 10 years ago.

In the years since Paul Stevenson vanished, very few clues have ever come to light.

It’s a heartbreaking monotony for the Bundaberg dad’s family, who still hold hope that someday someone might find something - a jacket, a memory, a missing piece of the puzzle that might finally tie the mystery together.

Diesel mechanic Paul had been on an early morning motorcycle ride on March 11, 2012.

It was the early hours, around 4am, and he was travelling to Paradise Dam before coming back to town.

He’d been wearing a black leather jacket, a black full-face helmet and probably jeans.

The 45-year-old’s bike and helmet were discovered down an embankment on Mt Perry-Gin Gin Road the next day.

Aside from a busted indicator and some scratches, nothing gave any obvious clues.

The simplest mysteries remain unsolved - what happened to Paul’s leather jacket?

Where’s the phone that rang out when concerned family members called him continuously when he failed to show at a meeting he was due to attend?

Despite massive searches of the area, in some cases spanning months, nothing more turned up.

There was one anomaly from the day, however, that has never gained mainstream attention - a man seen walking down the road hours after Paul was last heard from.

The NewsMail understands a number of people spotted this man. One of them was Rod Gear.

Mr Gear said he and a friend had played golf just after noon on the day of March 11, 2012.

It was then, driving sometime between 12.30 and 1pm near the turn-off to Wonbah Road, that Mr Gear and his passenger noticed a man who caught their attention.

It was clear from the very start that the man was a motorcyclist, prompting Mr Gear to comment to his passenger: “there’s a bikie who came off his motorbike”.

The man was walking on the right side of the road.

“He glanced at us, but didn’t wave or anything,” Mr Gear said.

“I have picked up a couple of hitchhikers over the years, this guy wasn’t looking for a ride. He was just walking at a normal pace. You could tell he’d been on a motorbike.”

Mr Gear commented on how unusual the sight was and said the man wasn’t carrying anything and didn’t seem to be injured in any way.

Mr Gear said he told police about the sighting, as did his passenger, but as they hadn’t realised what was going on at the time, they hadn’t taken careful mental notes and parts of their accounts did not match up.

The local man said he’d heard stories from around the same time of a caravan being parked on the side of the road at Boolboonda that was later removed, but as to whether it could have anything to do with Paul’s disappearance, remains another odd part of the mystery.

A shock twist came for Mr Gear when, 12 months to the day, he received strange messages from someone saying “I know it was you”.

Mr Gear said the accusation was bizarre given he’d simply witnessed a man walking along the road and told police.

It is currently Missing Persons Week and the whereabouts of Paul Stevenson are still unknown.

If you have any information, contact Policelink on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Originally published as Witness reveals details of the man he saw walking near the place Paul Stevenson vanished almost 10 years ago