Tasmanian podcast The Lost Ones now live on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Tasmanian podcast The Lost Ones, about those who’ve gone missing without a trace in the island's wilderness, is now live on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. HERE’S HOW YOU CAN LISTEN >>

TASMANIAN true-crime podcast The Lost Ones, which explores the mysteries of those who’ve disappeared without a trace in the island’s wilderness, is now available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

The eight-episode investigation by the Mercury and True Crime Australia looks into the reason why people go missing in Tasmania – whether they’ve succumbed to the state’s rugged conditions or if they’ve fallen victim to foul play.

Over the coming two months, the series will roll out on both Spotify and Apple Podcasts, with a new episode revealed each Wednesday.

The Lost Ones is now live on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Episode one – The Preacher – is now live, detailing the mystery of a piano accordion-playing preacher who moved with his family to Tasmania from England, via New South Wales, in the 1960s.

Geoffrey Rallings was a man of God who would preach to anyone, “spreading the word” wherever he went.

But one day about Christmas 1995, the Huon Valley man disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a devastated family.

Mr Rallings is one of the 169 people who have disappeared in Tasmania since the mid-20th century – and one of many drawn to the island from interstate or abroad, literally to vanish off the face of the Earth.

Geoffrey Rallings busking in the Elizabeth Street mall. Picture: Supplied by Irene Rallings

Out of the scores of tree-changers, tourists, bushwalkers, adventurers and locals who are currently registered as missing in the state, at least one third of them vanished somewhere in the wilderness.

The Lost Ones examines the ancient forests in Tasmania that have been home to humans for 40,000 years – and some of the unique perils the wilderness presents to those who dare to venture within it.

Veteran Ian Nichols disappeared in 1989 while helping build a retreat hut for Vietnam War veterans. His daughter Christine Behrens believes he didn’t just wander into the bush at all, but in fact was murdered. Picture: Supplied

Some people may have fallen victim to the bitter cold, or fallen through cave openings known as “sinkholes” while out bushwalking.

Others may have entered the bush to end their own lives – while others still have been murdered, the thick Tasmanian bush providing an ideal cover for violent crime.

The Lost Ones is available via Spotify here or Apple Podcasts here.

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