EFFORTPOST The disappearance of Theo Hayez a belgian Backpacker in Australia.With pin point data from his Google GPS.

Who was Theo Hayez?

Theo Hayez was an 18 year old Belgian who wanted to see the world after he finished his school. One of his dream destinations was australia because he has some family there and of course its like a dream for some young people to travel through Australia as a backpacker.

Before he left belgium He went out with all his friends a last time and He even tried to keep the relationship with his girlfriend going while he is in australia.

He arranged a work-travel visa for 12 months and after that He wanted to study engineering in Brussels. Theo was a good Student and had very good grades and he was even happy to start studying engineering after his stay in australia. Theo even stated that on the Phone with his mother and other backpackers days before his disappearance.

Theo is described as a very careful but open Person. He planned his whole trip meticulously. Family and Friends said He wasnt the spontaneous Type. And He even promised his mother and father He will write them everyday when hes in australia.

The Beginning of his journey.

The journey started in the south east of australia in the state Victoria.

At the 12. November 2018 he arrived at the airport in Melbourne.

His Godfather ,,JP'' Malcolm picked him up from the airport that day.

His Godfather is from Belgium and He married a women named Julia Macolm from Australia and with her He has 2 Kids.

Theo Hayez already knows his Godfather very good cause he visits theo and his mother and father often in Belgium.

The relationship with the Malcolm family has always been very good. This was also a big reason why he chose Australia cause he wanted to see them so bad.

Theo loved to play with the two children and spend some time with the whole family.

But after a few weeks he wanted to leave cause theo still had many plans to see as much as he can. So He left the Family and went to Adelaide, the great Barrier Reef and even got a work a the Australian Open (Tennis Tournament) and many other places.

Journey after 2 Months.

In January and February he spent two Months with his cousin Lisa.

Theos cousin Lisa and Theo

Lisa just arrived in australia too some Months ago and wanted to do the same like theo.

They shared an appartement in Melbourne and they even worked together on some farms.

While He stayed in Melbourne He and his girlfriend broke up cause the long distance telationship doesnt work. But they stayed in touch and still had a good friendship going with daily Texts.

Theo and his ex girlfriend

In May 2019 he was in Brisbane for a couple of nights and at the 25th May He again meets his cousin Lisa and his other cousin Michael (He last saw Michael when they were little kids)

Michael and Lisa

Rest of the Journey.

Theos Journey is more and more coming to an end. He has to return to Belgium at the beginning of June to take the entrance exam for the college in brussels.

Like I said before he even tells his both Cousins how excited he is about to join the college.

But sadly nobody knew that Theo wasnt going to even attempt the entrance exam cause one week later he disappeared.

Arriving at Byron Bay/Infos about Byron Bay.

Byron Bay is a City has a Population of around 10.000 people. The City is popular for young backpackers mainly cause of the Beaches and has good spots to surf.

At the 29th May Theo just arrived Byron Bay in the State New South Wales. Theo wanted to stay here for one and a half week specially cause he got a huge interest in Surfing.

At the 12th June was his flight to Bangkok and from there back home to Brussels. So it was his last destination on his Trip.

He checked in at a hotel called Wake Up!

The hotel is just a few meters/miles close to the beach.

The Hotel where Theo last stayed in.

The Last contact and the first try to trace Theos last tracks.

At the 31st May he had the last contact with his mother through WhatsApp. After that He never send any New messages to his mother.

At the 1st June and 2nd June his mother wonders that Theo hasnt send any messages to her too.

But it was nothing unusal that Theo didnt write a message for like 1-3 Days while He was in australia cause of the connection sometimes.

After 5 Days his mother cant ignore it anymore and so She calls theos Godfather ,,JP'' and tells him the Situation.

JP knew in which Hotel Theo would stay so He called the Wake Up! Hotel.

The Staff told him that theos belongings are still in the room and He didnt checked out of the Hotel.

After that JP tried to Look at theos australian Bank Account (He helped Theo to make one and He still had the Informations of it) if there are some bank movement.

His last money transaction was at a Bar named ,,Cheeky Monkey'' from about a week ago.

The Bar Cheeky Monkey

Meanwhile Theos cousin Lisa tried to help and she remembered the Theo told her that He bought a Bus Ticket for the 3th June from Byron Bay to Melbourne.

She called the Bus Company and asked them about the Ticket and Theo. Sadly they told her that He bought a Ticket but He never joined the Bus for that ride to Melbourne.

The reserved seat on the bus remained empty.

The Disappearance

Like I said at the beginning Theo Hayez planned his Trip meticulously (best example the Bus Ticket and the already made Reservation in the hotel). And He wasnt a spontaneous Type they never heard anything from Theo.

So his Godfather had to file a missing Person report at the 6th June. Immediately a big search rescue starts with the help of the australian police and many volunteers.

Lisa helped as much as she can through social Media and his JP drove to Byron Bay and drove around all the Streets for hours in search of theo hayez.

After a couple days even Lisa came to byron Bay and is going from house to house to ask the locals.

Even Belgium the Police tried their best to help.

The police used jet-skis and drones to search for him on the Kilometer/Miles long beaches and even in the ocean.

But the biggest Problem was cause Theo Hayez used his Google Maps with his GPS on almost everyday the police wanted to Look at them but cause of the Privacy Law they cant give out the Information about Theo Hayezs Google Account.

Even his father plead in a public announcemnt on TV in Australia that they make a exception for this case while he fight his tears.

Thankfully his mother tried some passwords to get into his Google Account for hours and hours but at the end she found the right one and now the police can see the last movements of theo hayez and his last messages or even calls.

Theo Hayez last movement before he got löst, GPS Data and Messages

The last traces of Theo Hayez are all from the 31st May.

That night he went to a nightclub called the Cheeky Monkey with some fellow Backpackers from the Hotel where He stayed in. From the Hotel to the Bar its a 30 Minute walk. Around 11pm he was asked to leave by the bouncer for being intoxicated. The staff venue manager confirmed he was unsteady on his feet. Theo was not known for being a heavy drinker. He was captured on camera at this point and family/friends didn't think he looked intoxicated and other backpackers there thought the same. Video of him walking away from the club. He was preoccupied with his phone and he almost hit a telephone pole.

Here is the CCTV from the Bar. Sorry had to record it from a video.

All Theo's movements on his last night were tracked by his phone. His phone was never found but data was acquired through his Google account online. Theo was googling directions to get back to his hostel on multiple instances after he left the club.

At 11:07pm he checked his phone for directions to the hostel, yet he headed in an opposite direction towards a cricket pitch at a running pace. He ended up standing by the cricket pitch for 7 minutes.

The Red line is which direction Route He tipped in his Google maps and the yellow one is the 30 Minutes walk when he went to the bar at first.

Some people assuming that Theo just wanted to make the long walk at the beach with the new Route.

The location Cricket Nets where He stood for 7 Minutes without using his Phone (standing by the Cricket pitch in the Text above) is a dangerous place at night. These is no mystery for the locals so they ignore that Part of the city completly. They say many homeless people are staying there with their tents.

Maybe someone talked with him in those 7 Minutes that's why He stood there for so long or He wasnt Sure about that.

Then went through a residential area, towards a bush trail called Milne Track which leads to Tallow Beach. He had not travelled this route, nor to this area before as per his phone records. He again searched for directions to the hostel. On this track he began to run (7.5 km/h) in the darkness on difficult terrain. He managed to miss the right turn to continue on the track and continued straight on a sandy trail. Admittedly, this was easily possible to miss at night.

Up ahead he came to a fork. At this point he once again searches directions to the hostel. He would have to go left to reach his hostel, yet he goes right further into the surrounding bush. Interestingly, the route Theo went takes him around a known encampment of a homeless man, Tommy. This individual did not see Theo that night. Tommy noted he does have a light but it wouldn't be visible as it is hidden behind his shelter. Why did Theo make the detour completely around the shelter? How did he manage this in the dark in the bush as he was never there before? Did he somehow see the encampment or was he with someone familiar with the route?

He turns into the Cricket pitch and just for more Informations. A normal walk is like 3km/h and Theo increase his speed from 6km/h to 7.5km/h at the end. Just like he follows someone cause hes not running more like Jogging.

And remember that it was dark as fuck and He wasnt a local there and He entered a nationalpark in the pitch Black darkness.

In the process, he lost his favourite Puma ball cap. This was later recovered by police. Why did he not pick it up or look for it? It was found directly on the route he took as per his phone, thus it being planted here later is highly unlikely.

His favourite cap lost at the same place how the GPS showed us his last Route.

They found the cap 1 month later after his disappearance.

At the place he exited the bush onto the beach, there is an abandoned homeless encampment. Was someone here at that time? At this point, Theo googles his location again.

He walks up the beach towards Cosy Corner. Near here Theo then walks up a steep hill into the dense bush (with vines, thistles). He stops for 5.5 mins in a location surrounded on all sides by vines. Was he hiding? Theo was not known to use drugs. Perhaps being under the influence of drugs, either intentionally or via a spiked drink, could explain these erratic movements.

But drugs wouldnt fit for Theo cause his cousin Lisa said when they where in Melbourne partying they got asked if they want some drugs and Theo always declined.

Tallow Beach is often the location for parties, especially Cosy Corner, the location where Theo headed. Was he with someone going to a party?

Tallow Beach

His way to the beach

On the beach, around 12:05pm, his phone GPS was turned off. Did he turn off his location or did his phone enter low power mode? Perhaps he turned it off to save battery? If so, it shows he wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon. Theo wasn't a risk-taker. Why would he climb the embankment to the lighthouse?

At 12:20am he texted his friend (WhatsApp). He watched a comedy sketch (in French, his mother tongue) on his phone at 12:23am that was 90 Minutes after he left the bar. At 12:55am, he texted his step-sister.At 1:03 am He wrote his last Texts with a friend where they talked about Surfing. His phone was in sleep mode from 2am to around 6am (on but not in use). At 6:17am it started pinging cell towers again but then eventually stopped at 1:42pm (cell phone data suggests the battery didn't die because then it would have sent a ‘disconnection' signal). The cell phone was never recovered, but it was concluded by the manufacturer that it would not send signals if it were in the water.

Locals noted there no one was surfing that weekend due to the ocean swells.

His body has never been found.

Other Facts:

After his disappearance, locals discovered that when you Google search for directions to Tallow Beach from the place Theo stopped for 7 minutes, one possible route was identical to the way Theo went along Milne Track (with the exception of his detour off the track where he missed the turn).

Using phone data it appears he was zooming in to the hostel area on the map. This suggests he was lost and trying to find his way back.

People noted later that you could add a waypoint on your journey, keeping the hostel as the final destination, and this would not reflect in the phone data.

There is no indication he was suicidal and this has been ruled out by his family.

Drug use is common in this area (MDMA, psychedelics, etc.).

Cellphone data shows no one was with Theo when he stopped for 7 minutes near the cricket pitch (but this could not be confirmed on Apple phones).

The telecom provider was able to reproduce the drop in signal which happened between 2-6am by dropping the phone down the other side of the embankment.

Police think he was lost, ended up on the cliff, dropped his phone, then ended up slipping and falling in the water.

His later use of his phone to watch a YouTube video and text family/friends suggests he wasn't acting erratically due to the influence of drugs. This also counters the theory that he was possibly running from someone and was hiding in the bushes.

His father to the public.

Some more pictures showing his last Route.

When my screen recorded Videos are shit.

After the case got many Media couverage some people send Emails or Letters to the family. In a specific one some people stated : We got your son. We kidnapped your son and we want 300.000 australian dollars and the payment should be in bitcoin.

It turned it that a man from south africa tried to use this horrible case to get some money. The police in south africa found this guy.

But the Most fucked up Thing is.

An anonymous Person called the parents and told them that Theo met someone in Byron Bay at the night and this someone belongs to the drug scene in Byron Bay.

The anonymous Person claimed that in a town called Nimbin (70 Kilometers away from byron Bay) there is an abandoned house where Theos Hayez clothes and phone are there.

The police went there and found 3 lugagge and many clothes are scattered around the tiny house.

After an Invastigation the police found it that they belong to a missing women named Thea Liddle.

She disappeared almost a half year later in the same City Byron Bay.

Her body was found near the Bushes where Theo Hayez stood for 5 Minutes. In the case of Thea Liddle no Arrests were made and the police didnt told the public how She died.

But this makes the whole Story even more crazier.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-01/nsw-police-confirm-remains-of-thea-liddle-found-byron-bay/12514710

Kinda unrelevant New Information:

On May 15th 2023

A human bone discovered at a shipwreck site off Byron Bay in northern NSW will be forensically tested by police against known missing persons cases.

The bone was retrieved by dive instructor Jason Baker at the SS Wollongbar shipwreck on May 6.

He was with two students on a morning dive when he noticed the bone protruding about 10 centimetres out of the sand.

But it turned out it doesnt belong to Theo Hayez.

____________________________________________

This Disappearance is so well documented and its still crazy that Theo hayez is still missing specially his body.

The police ofc said He Fell down from the Cliffs but even when he Fell down He wouldnt Land into the water. Because of the last know GPS data He was on top of it and when someone Fall from down there He just would end up on the Cliffs down under. The gap between the Cliffs and the ocean is too big.

Sorry for Bad spelling or some failed grammar. English is not my first language im sorry about that.

Your thoughts about that?

Some links for this case:

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/family-s-worst-fears-confirmed-in-theo-hayez-mystery-20221021-p5brop.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Th%C3%A9o_Hayez

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/missing-backpacker-theo-hayez-former-homicide-detective-has-dark-theory/AHAMFNHUIRFNDCOQT5IOS2N37M/

And please maybe Support the Facebook site of their family.

https://facebook.com/Looking.for.Theo/

Thanks for reading and please correct me if i had some wrong Informations.