General News
27 October, 2022
New call for information on 12-year-old Terry Floyd as mine excavation continues
Earlier in the year, specialist cadaver dogs trained in locating human remains were brought in and used as part of a grid search around the mine, with the dogs reportedly having a significant reaction to the mine shaft itself. The final part of the...
More than 47 years after the disappearance of Maryborough boy Terry Floyd, the final push to fully excavate the abandoned mine believed to house his remains could soon be underway and with it, a renewed call for information.
The 12-year-old disappeared on June 28, 1975 and is believed to have been abducted and murdered after he was last seen on the Pyrenees Highway between Avoca and Maryborough.
Terry’s brother Daryl has long believed the boy’s remains are in an abandoned mine shaft near Avoca, just hundreds of metres from where the boy was last seen, and met with mining experts at the site this week to discuss plans for its total excavation.
Daryl, along with a team of volunteers, had spent years working to excavate the mine and while the main shaft has been cleared, side passages remain to be searched.
“The mine shaft itself is all cleaned out, it’s basically the drives that come off the main shaft that need doing,” he said.
“The first drive is at the 60 foot level and that’s the area we’ll first be looking at when works are underway.
“There is relevant information that suggests remains could be in that first drive.”
Earlier in the year, specialist cadaver dogs trained in locating human remains were brought in and used as part of a grid search around the mine, with the dogs reportedly having a significant reaction to the mine shaft itself.
The final part of the excavation will be led by two mining experts, including Tony Gready, who has experience as a supervisor and foreman at various Australian mine sites, including Fosterville.
Daryl said the Victorian Government, which had provided financial support for the mine search in the past, had offered to fund this final excavation if Daryl could get a team together.
“For the past 12 months or so I’ve been actively looking for a crew to come on board and see the excavation through to completion,” he said.
“We now have two experts in the mining industry who have come on board and are mining bosses in their own rights.
“The Victorian Government has said to me that once I got together a crew that were committed and able to do this kind of work to let them know and get a tender together, which they would then look to fund.
“Our next step is going back to the government and saying this is where we’re at and what we’ve got, it’s now up to you guys to fund it.”
The search of the mineshaft had been progressing until early 2020 when bushfires in the area and then the COVID-19 pandemic put a pause on all work.
Daryl described being back at the mine site this week as “bittersweet”, but was hopeful of finally getting some answers about his brother’s disappearance.
“It’s a bittersweet moment really, no one wants to be here doing this but to try and finally get this resolved and completed once and for all is going to be a great outcome,” he said.
“Unfortunately I don’t think we’ll ever get closure, we’re here to get answers and once we get those, we’ll be better for it.
“Once this is finally resolved you’re never going to be able to get on with your life, it’s always going to be a part of it and 47 years is a long time to be dealing with this.
“The sooner we can get my little mate home and buried with his parents where he deserves to be, the better.”
In recent weeks, Daryl said several people had come forward with information relating to Terry’s disappearance and the mine site, renewing a call for information.
He encouraged community members with information, even if they reported it at the time of Terry’s disappearance, to come forward.
“In recent weeks I’ve had three people reach out to me with valuable information to do with Terry’s disappearance and the mine,” he said.
“These people did come forward with that information at the time of Terry’s disappearance but unfortunately those reports were never followed up.
“That information is quite relevant to where we’re at now in Terry’s investigation.
“Given those insights, if there are people in the community who have information, even information they provided at the time this all happened, if they can come forward again that might give us the information we need.”
Victoria Police’s Homicide Squad reopened the investigation into Terry’s disappearance in 2000 and the following year a coroner determined the boy had been murdered but no body has ever been found and no one has been charged over the death.
Despite a $1 million reward offered for any information that could lead to answers for the Floyd family, the case remains unsolved.
Anyone with information about the Terry Floyd case is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
