Missing New Norfolk man Dale Nicholson declared deceased by the coroner

A New Norfolk man who enjoyed fishing in the Central Highlands has been declared deceased by a coroner, five years after he vanished without a trace.

A New Norfolk man who disappeared without a trace in 2016 – after leaving his house to buy a newspaper on his usual morning trip to the shop – has been declared deceased by a coroner.

Dale Nicholson, 61, was reported missing by his family on December 11, 2016, with “extensive searches” carried out across the Derwent Valley and further afield in the Central Highlands where he enjoyed fishing.

Tasmania Police previously said it performed land and water searches with the help of specialist marine and search and rescue members at a number of highland lakes including Lake Repulse, Lake Binni, Lake King William, Bradys Lake and Tungatinah Lagoon – but failed to locate him.

Dale Waverley Nicholson. Picture: SUPPLIED

Mr Nicholson lived alone, but was said to have a close circle of friends who found it “out of character for him to be missing”.

In his findings published Tuesday, Coroner Simon Cooper said he was satisfied Mr Nicholson was deceased.

“All available evidence points to him being dead,” he said, noting a number of enquiries had been made with banks and agencies like Medicare.

However, the coroner was unable to determine the cause or location of his death.

“Mr Nicholson may have taken his own life, been the victim of homicide, died of natural causes or as the result of misadventure, but the evidence simply does not enable me to determine with any degree of certainty why and how he died,” Mr Cooper said.

“I sincerely hope that further evidence is unearthed sometime in the future that provides some clue as to what became of him.”

The car Dale Nicholson was believed to have been driving when he disappeared.

He said it was logical Mr Nicholson died “somewhere in Tasmania”, with no records of him having left the state.

The coroner said Mr Nicholson’s family had recently provided DNA samples to police in the event his remains were located in the future.

“Those samples have been forwarded to the laboratory of Forensic Science Service Tasmania for inclusion in the missing person database,” he said.

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