Mystery still surrounds the identity of human remains found in a Tasmanian forest as police revealed there were no personal belongings to confirm it was missing Belgian backpacker Celine Cremer.
A bushwalker made the gruesome find on Wednesday near the Philosopher Falls area in Waratah, on the state’s west coast.
Jarrod Boys, 25, had been searching in that area as part of the ongoing hunt for Ms Cremer, 31, and immediately contacted police when the discovery was made.
Inspector Andrew Hanson said on Thursday that police are treating the remains – including a lower jaw bone – as if they are Ms Cremer.
A pathologist has confirmed the bones were human, he said, but no other items have been found with the remains which would help that determine the identity.
It could now take several weeks for police to get answers, Insp Hanson said.
Ms Cremer’s mother Ariane has been told not to think about it ‘for at least the next three weeks’, but she was warned the testing could take even longer.
‘The process now will be the bones will be sent to a pathologist who will conduct a report and a review. They will then go to an anthropologist for a similar process,’ he said, ABC News reports.
‘The bones will then go to an odontologist [teeth specialist] who will conduct those dental comparisons with records that we are currently in the process of obtaining through [Ms Cremer’s mother] Ariane from Belgium.’
The bones are then due to be sent to Forensic Science Services Tasmania for DNA testing.
It is unlikely the bones could belong to someone else as there haven’t been any other missing bushwalkers in the area, Insp Hanson told reporters.
But he added that they cannot provide a definitive answer until after testing as they don’t know the age of the bones.
Helicopters are due to drop six experts in the area on Friday to cut short the lengthy walk they would have to make to reach the remote site where the bones were found.
Once there, they will search the river area but won’t need to diving gear as the water level is ‘quite low’, Insp Hanson added.
‘They’re going to be inserted approximately 400-500 metres downstream of where the remains were located,’ he said.
‘They will then walk up the river in a what is effectively a line search.
‘If these remains turn out to be Celine Cremer, that location is consistent with our theory that potentially she could have been trying to reach the road and may have done so by moving towards the river, knowing that following it downstream may eventually lead to that road.’
Insp Hanson praised Mr Boys for his swift action, saying the bushwalker ‘did exactly what we would have expected them to do’.
‘He identified the remains or the bones where they were. He took some photographs of them. He recorded the exact location,’ he said.
Ms Cremer went missing after she went out for a simple one-hour return hike to the waterfalls, in the state’s north-west, about 73km south of Burnie.
Her white SUV was discovered by police in the car park at Philosopher Falls on June 27, 2023. Using mobile phone data, they determined it had been parked there since June 20.
She was an experienced hiker who had been exploring Tasmania for six months and the case had baffled officers.
Tasmania Police called off the search in early July 2023 after medical experts advised Ms Cremer could not have survived the harsh winter conditions.
Asked during Thursday’s press conference whether police regretted ending the search, Insp Hanson said no.
‘The assessments we make at the time are consistent with national practice. We have all of our things peer-reviewed,’ he said.
‘The actual location of these remains is two kilometres away from the [search] scene.
‘The water at that time was very high. As you might remember, the temperatures was an average of -2 in the nine days that we knew between when Celine went to philosopher Falls, and when she was reported missing.
‘Our search and rescue teams did a really amazing job in the conditions.’
Mr Boys had been involved in previous larger search efforts organised by private investigator Ken Gamble, who runs IWF Global.
His company has conducted four searches of the region, including at least one with a team of 25 volunteers chosen for their bushcraft and medical expertise.
Celine’s phone data suggests she left the marked trail for unknown reasons.
She was understood to be confident in the outdoors, familiar with Tasmania’s unpredictable conditions, and had a good head on her shoulders.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.
CRE: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15507857/Celine-Cremer-backpacker-Tasmania-Australia.html