We Just Want to Know What Happened: Family’s Heartbreaking Plea After Shane Wilson Disappears at Favourite Fishing Spot
Exclusive: The family of a missing tradie is living in limbo and desperately seeking answers more than a month after his disappearance in rural Victoria.
Shane Wilson was last seen in a kayak at his favourite fishing spot on the Goulburn River at Ghin Ghin on Saturday, July 18.
Shane Wilson and Melissa Teague. Supplied
His sister Melissa Teague said he had been out on the water when his friend Paul “heard Shane yell, followed by a splash”.
Police recovered the 53-year-old’s kayak and paddle shortly after he disappeared but there has not been a trace of him since.
Emergency services launched a large-scale search but a Victoria Police spokesperson said this has now been suspended.
A search for Shane Wilson failed to find any trace of him. Supplied
“Sadly, with the passage of time and environmental conditions in the area, police hold grave concerns for the man’s welfare and have been working to recover his body,” a spokesperson said.
“Officers will revisit the area if further information is received or if there are any new developments.”
Teague said while she was grateful to everyone who has searched for her brother, the decision to suspend the search was one the family was “struggling to understand”.
“We are incredibly grateful to the police and the search teams,” she said.
“They have been great, and we know they have protocols, procedures and decisions they have to follow, but we are angry.
“We don’t understand how the search can just stop while Shane is still missing.
“We don’t have a body, we don’t have answers, we don’t have closure.
“The thought that he could still be down there, alone at the bottom of that river, while the search has stopped is absolutely heartbreaking.
“Please don’t let my brother become someone who is simply forgotten at the bottom of a river.”
Shane Wilson has been missing for more than a month. Supplied
Teague has encouraged police and the community to continue the search for her brother.
“We are begging for another diving team,” she said.
“We are begging people who live along that river to check their properties.
“We are begging anyone with a boat, anyone who walks those areas and anyone who may have seen something to please look.
“We are not asking people to put themselves in danger, we are asking people to simply look.
“I just want people to understand that this isn’t over for us.
“Shane hasn’t been found, we want my brother home.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact Victoria Police.
