Bone found at Byron Bay Wreck.. Is it Theo’s?

BY KATE COXALL

Master Scuba Diving Instructor, and Lieutenant Maritime Warfare Officer in the Navy, Jason Baker early last week found something he had never found before in his many years as a professional diver.

The Femur (top of the leg) bone, belonging to an adult male was discovered in the sand near the Wollongbar Ship Wreck off Belongil Beach, in Byron Bay. With Theo Hayaz still missing, his body unfound, questions on the locals’ lips, are “is it Theo’s?”.

Police have confirmed that the bone discovered in water, near the Wollongbar wreck, is human. Further police dive searches have brought forth more items of interest and Byron Bay police officer Matt Kehoe told media outlets, it has all been sent for further testing.

“We’ve had some forensic examination done and it has determined that bone is a human bone, we’ve got ongoing forensic examination to identify the origins of the bone and to compare that with any of our known missing persons.”” Chief Inspector Kehoe told the media.

Chief Inspector Kehoe also shared that the bone was a substantial size and hadn’t been in the water for long, the “bone has only been in the water for a short period of time, being either weeks or at most a couple of months,” he said.

Chief Inspector Matt Kehoe also told media that the clues leading to who the leg bone belonged to would not be Theo, but that of a Columbian man who went missing in the Byron Bay surf in March this year.

“We have obtained a DNA sample that we would be able to link from that missing Columbian male, so that will be one of the first avenues of investigations we will pursue,” Chief Inspector Kehoe said. After multiple agencies attempted to recover and save the man, he went missing. A swimmer also attempted to save him, but due to the rough conditions, was unsuccessful at that time. According to police, forensic testing could take a number of weeks.