A tragic mystery spanning more than eight years has been solved in north Queensland, with police identifying human remains found at a rural property as Newcastle man Jayden Penno-Tompsett, who had been missing since late 2017.
A supplied undated image obtained on January 4, 2018, of Jayden Penno-Tompsett. AAP Image/Supplied by Queensland Police
On October 20 last year, officers uncovered the remains at Breddan, a rural area on the outskirts of Charters Towers, which sits along the Flinders Highway about 140 kilometres inland of Townsville.
A crime scene was declared shortly after the discovery.
On Monday, police confirmed that forensic DNA analysis supported findings that the remains were of Penno-Tompsett.
Police will now prepare a report for the coroner.
In 2017, 22-year-old Newcastle man Jayden Penno-Tompsett went missing near the town while travelling from his NSW home town to Cairns via car.
“Mr Penno-Tompsett, aged 22 at the time, was last seen in the early hours of 31 December, 2017, in the vicinity of a roadhouse located on Thompson Street (Flinders Highway) in Charters Towers,” police said in a statement.
“An extensive multi-agency land search was conducted over several days in January, 2018, but he was never found.”
A 2021 inquiry into Penno-Tompsett’s disappearance ruled the 22-year-old had died of unknown circumstances before January 4, 2018.
The coronial investigation is ongoing.
With Catherine Strohfeldt
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