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General News

31 August, 2023

Morning Star Mine shaft investigation continues

The excavation of an abandoned mine near Avoca is nearing completion, as information from the public continues to pour forward in the search for missing Maryborough boy Terry Floyd. A team from Search and Rescue Dogs Australia were at the Morning...

By Riley Upton

Daryl Floyd and Charlie Bezzina met at the abandoned mine site on the weekend, discussing progress on the investigation. Photo: 010923 16
Daryl Floyd and Charlie Bezzina met at the abandoned mine site on the weekend, discussing progress on the investigation. Photo: 010923 16

The excavation of an abandoned mine near Avoca is nearing completion, as information from the public continues to pour forward in the search for missing Maryborough boy Terry Floyd.

A team from Search and Rescue Dogs Australia were at the Morning Star Mine site on Saturday, combing through dirt and material that has been removed so far.

While there was nothing that could be linked to Terry’s remains found, it now looks likely one of the search dogs will be lowered into the mine itself to assist with search efforts.

Terry was last seen on the side of the Pyrenees Highway on June 28, 1975, within hundreds of metres of the mineshaft, where clothing and jewellery believed to have been worn by the boy on the day of his disappearance have been found.

While no body has been found, Victoria Police Homicide Squad detectives reopened the investigation into Terry’s disappearance in 2000 and in 2001, a coroner determined the boy had been abducted and murdered.

Daryl Floyd, Terry’s brother, remains hopeful of finding answers about his final resting place.

“It’s getting harder and harder all the time, there’s only a limited area we need to remove product and dirt from now in the mine,” he said.

“We are very close to finishing this, the guys are still keen to keep going and we are still hopeful of finding those answers.”

Retired homicide detective Charlie Bezzina has taken on the case as a private investigator in recent months and has taken a number of statements from individuals with information about Terry’s disappearance.

“There have been numerous bits of information that have come forward that we need to look into and that’s very promising, you never give up,” Mr Floyd said.

“What Charlie has been able to achieve in the last two or three months is really positive, he believes the case is quite solvable, it just needs a further push from the authorities to make it happen.

“We’re just so grateful, we’ve been looking for answers for so long and we’ve ticked a couple of boxes we had with the information that’s come forward.”

Mr Bezzina said that despite 48 years passing since Terry’s disappearance, he believes the case is still solvable.

“We were in the area in July taking statements and since then, I’ve managed to get some additional statements from individuals who hadn’t spoken to the police before,” he said.

“This case is solvable, it is difficult being 48 years down the track, however I’m relatively confident we’re getting quite close.

“We have statements from about five people placing Terry and the panel van that picked him up on the Pyrenees Highway the day he disappeared.

“Ultimately I’ll be submitting a report to the Homicide Squad or the Missing Persons Unit with my recommendations on what they should be looking at doing next.”

Anyone with information regarding Terry’s disappearance is encouraged to contact Mr Bezzina and other investigators at findingterryfloyd@gmail.com or by phoning a new hotline set up by Stop Line Call Centre at 1800 491 697.

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