Bushland in West Mackay searched as police investigate missing man’s disappearance
Police and the SES are scouring bushland near a tropical Queensland city in the search for a local man. last seen more than a month ago.
Mackay native Wayne Pedro Morseu was reported missing by his family on November 10 but was last seen a few weeks ago.
The 71-year-old man is described as First Nations, of slim build, with gray hair and brown eyes.
Wayne Pedro Morseu, 71, was reported missing on November 10.Credit: Queensland Police
In an update on Tuesday, police said the search had turned to bushland around West Mackay but no items of interest had yet been found.
No one had been detained in connection with the disappearance, but police continued to speak to people who knew him.
“Nobody saw him from mid to late October… [so] We’re treating him as a suspect until we know otherwise,” regional crime coordinator Detective Superintendent Darrin Shadlow said last week.
He stopped short of saying he expected the investigation to turn into a murder case, but said police had no reason to suspect Morseu had deliberately cut off contact with people he knew.
“We’re obviously very hopeful that Mr. Morseu will make it through the door and back to his family,” Shadlow said.
“It is very out of character for Mr. Morseu to not communicate with his family; he usually did so every few weeks.”
