NEW information has emerged in the disappearance of Ben Wara Plowright, with unconfirmed but credible sightings putting him at Breadalbane hours after his last known location.
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The Launceston 20-year-old has been missing for 18 days and was last seen leaving a small party in Perth’s Arthur Street.
Each day is another torturous 24 hours for his family, who are left not knowing what happened.
‘‘It’s about coming to terms with the lack of answers,’’ Ben’s father Steve Plowright said during a family press conference on Tuesday.
‘‘Naturally in an investigation you want answers but at this point we don’t have answers.
‘‘We have still got hope but also we are realistic, so hope is possibly fading.’’
Ben was adopted from Thailand when he was two and remained proud of his mother country.
Mr Plowright said his son loved music, was a talented clarinet player and had a passion for photography.
Whatever happened to the Hotel New York worker on May 30, his actions in the lead-up to that night indicated he was planning on staying put.
His sister Sally saw him in Launceston the day of his disappearance.
‘‘He was fine, he was just the Ben that I know ... really happy to see us,’’ she said.
His mother Ruth also spoke to him that day about his broken camera.
‘‘He borrowed a camera specifically for that evening and he put it away ... to come back and take those pictures that evening,’’ Mr Plowright said.
After 250 police, SES and volunteers failed to turn up clues in what was one Tasmania Police’s biggest search operation last Saturday police are close to exhausting their options.
However, new reports have been received that Ben was seen just north of the Breadalbane roundabout on the Midland Highway about 11 o’clock on the night of his disappearance.
That’s two hours after he left the party, which is a credible timeline, according to police.
Launceston detectives will now start delving deeper into aspects of Ben’s life but Northern Commander Brett Smith was adamant that there was nothing specific indicating foul play.
He said detectives were also accessing phone data to explore Ben’s possible whereabouts.
‘‘That does take time,’’ he said.
An independent review of the investigation will be conducted by an officer from another district soon, he said.
Ben’s family and police thanked the community’s efforts in trying to locate Ben and urged anyone to contact police on 131 444 if they have information relevant to his whereabouts or the investigation.
pbillings@examiner.com.au
