Inquest to hand down findings in Jeremiah ‘Jayo’ Rivers disappearance

The Queensland Coroner is set to hand down its findings almost three years to the day after Jeremiah ‘Jayo’ Rivers disappeared in a remote pocket of Southwest Queensland.

The family of missing man Jeremiah Rivers gather outside the Brisbane Magistrates Court after attending the inquest into his disappearance. Picture: Tertius Pickard

The arid flood plains of the Channel Country are home to one of Australia’s most unforgiving environments.

For years on end they are a dry and desolate place that intermittently blooms with life as flood water moves south to Lake Eyre.

It is wide, empty and home to only a few hundred people, just cattlemen, oil riggers and some townsfolk.

This was where Jeremiah ‘Jayo’ Rivers disappeared almost three years ago while he was travelling back to his Kimberly home after a stint playing ALF in Balranald, South Australia in October 2021.

Mr Rivers, 19, was travelling with his kinship brother Joe Joe Kantilla-Gaden, who he knew from the Territory, Matthew Moore from Balranald, and four men who he had not met before – Travis Clare, Dylan Thomas, Joel McMaster and Kane Toohey.

Queensland police released this photo, believed to be the last taken of Jeremiah Rivers before he disappeared at Weppo Creek, west of Noccundra in South West Queensland.

They stopped hunting at Wippo Creek near Noccundra, about 300km west of Cunnamulla at some point on October 18. The group said Mr Rivers walked away from the campsite and was never seen again.

His disappearance prompted an extensive search and rescue operation that included police divers, SES volunteers, local volunteers, aircraft, thermal imaging, ATVs, and trail bikes.

When his body was not located, a Coronial Inquest was launched.

It heard from 15 witnesses in November 2023, including the party Mr Rivers was travelling with.

The inquest heard the group crossed the Queensland-NSW border that closed due to Covid restrictions at the time and that they delayed contacting police because they feared a hefty fine.

Jeremiah “Jayo” Rivers, 27, was last seen at a campsite at the remote Wippo Creek, near Noccundra in South West Queensland, on October 18, 2021.

During the inquest, it was heard that the trip was used by some group members to smuggle 1.3kg of cannabis into Darwin to then sell the drugs for a total of about $72,000.

There were also claims that Mr Rivers had called a friend in the early hours on Facebook Messenger on the day he vanished.

The evidence was that Mr Rivers had been in a fight with Mr Kantilla-Gaden, who had then got the other group members on his side.

The inquest heard Mr Rivers “wanted to get away” as he was “outnumbered” and “scared for his life”.

Mr Kantilla-Gaden denied these claims when he testified during the inquest.

It is hoped that Mr Rivers’ family will finally have some closure tomorrow when the Corner hands down the findings.