The discovery of human remains near Australia’s ‘Highway of Death’ may be the key to finally solving one of the country’s most baffling cold cases.
Homicide detectives are investigating the gruesome find near the outback town of Charters Towers in north Queensland, close to the Flinders Highway.
The motorway, which passes through several regional towns, earned its chilling nickname for its history of unsolved disappearances and brutak crimes.
The remains were found on Monday in Breddan, a rural area southwest of Townsville, and are yet to be linked to any missing persons.
The discovery has sparked speculation the remains belong to Jayden Penno-Tompsett, who disappeared from the region on New Year’s Eve in 2017.
The 22-year-old was on a road trip from Newcastle, New South Wales, to Cairns when he vanished without a trace near Charters Towers.
Mr Penno-Tompsett and his friend Lucas Tattersall were driving north in a red Nissan Pulsar to meet friends and family for the end-of-year celebrations.
The 22-year-old drove the Nissan ‘erratically’ around Charters Towers on the day he vanished and was last seen by Mr Tattersall walking into a fenced paddock just outside the rural town.
Jayden Penno-Tompsett disappeared in North Queensland on New Year’s Eve in 2017
Police are seen scouring the scene where the human remains were found on Monday
The Nissan Jayden Penno-Tompsett was driving before he walked off an was never seen again
A 2022 coronial inquest found he most likely died of exposure.
Mark Irving, a private investigator from Surveillance NQ, worked as a police officer for 22 years in the region and is well-versed in the case.
He said Mr Penno-Tompsett went missing at the worst possible time of the year.
‘It’s hard, hard country out there. It’s rocks and trees and that’s it. You’d be dead in two days without water. It gets super-hot, it’s extreme exposure,’ he told Daily Mail.
‘You’ve just got distinct isolation with low traffic volumes. Distance is working against those (missing) people.
‘There are few passing cars. If you were to stop, someone probably wouldn’t stop (to check on you) because they’d wonder why that person has stopped and if I stop, I’m a long way from help.’
Mr Tattersall continued his journey to Cairns without his travel companion before Mr Penno-Tompsett was officially reported missing by his father on January 4.
Mr Irving questioned why Mr Tattersall failed to notify police his friend was missing.
CCTV showed Mr Penno-Tompsett before he disappeared on his road trip to Cairns
The lonely outback Flinders Highway stretches 900km from Townsville to Mount Isa in North Queensland, where at least 11 people vanished or met a grisly end
The remote region is notorious for mysterious disappearances and it’s believed at least 11 people have vanished from the area since the 1970s.
The lonely outback Flinders Highway stretches 900km from Townsville to Mount Isa, and has been the backdrop for horrific crimes and disappearances for over 50 years.
Hitchhikers have vanished without a trace, little girls have been murdered, and backpackers have been discovered buried under a bridge.
But Mr Irving said not all the grisly cases were connected.
‘You can probably suggest it’s sinister, but it’s no more sinister than northern NSW where 32 women have been reported missing in the past 30 years,’ he said.
‘When you stop and look at it, it challenges your brain to say “are they all related or is there someone who was a truckie in that area for 25 years picking up hitchhikers”.
‘You really don’t know until someone is caught and it’s exposed.
‘It’s a theory but a hard one (to prove).’
Tony Jones (pictured) left Townsville on November 3, 1982, to hitchhike to Mount Isa to meet his brother Tim but never made it
Mark Jones, whose brother Tony vanished in 1982, believes at least one serial killer could be operating along the road.
‘It is a lonely abandoned road in the middle of nowhere. But if the same person did these completely random killings, why stop?’ he said in 2014.
‘Was he in jail, did he go to ground, or is he still out there waiting for the next victim?’
A crime scene has been established and forensic teams are inspecting the area.
Queensland Police told Daily Mail on Thursday morning that there were no new updates about the remains.
