By JESSE GRAHAM AND KATH GANNAWAY
A HIKER who disappeared seven years ago near Healesville may have met with foul play, according to new information on the case of missing man, Warren Meyer.
Mr Meyer’s wife, Zanette (Zee) Meyer, has been leading a campaign to gather more information on the disappearance of her husband on Easter Sunday, 23 March, 2008.
She said that a caller to police during 2014’s Missing Persons Week, where Victoria Police appeal for information on unsolved missing persons cases, said that Mr Meyer was murdered, and buried with a bulldozer.
The caller alleged that Mr Meyer came across a marijuana crop while walking in the Yarra Ranges National Park from the Dom Dom Saddle car park, and that he was killed as a result.
Two crops were found while police and family members were searching for Mr Meyer since 2008 – one immediately after the disappearance, the other in January, 2009.
It has also been noted that numerous shots were heard in the vicinity at the time of Mr Meyer’s disappearance.
Mrs Meyer said her husband was in good health and had decades of experience walking bush trails, and was carrying extensive supplies on the day of his disappearance.
“Warren was a skilled hiker of 30-plus years and safety conscious,” she said.
“He belonged to Bayside Bushwalking Club for years, always talked about safety and carried all the tools for a safe walk.”
At the time of his disappearance, Mr Meyer was carrying food, water, a charged phone, map, whistle and a GPS, and had planned for a 10-kilometre walk on either the Mount Morley track or Mount Monda track from the car park on the Black Spur, 15 minutes out of Healesville.
“Warren was happy and healthy over Easter – he was only going to be away three, three and a half hours,” Mrs Meyer said.
“He leapt out of bed.”
Addressing rumours that her husband may have organised his disappearance, Mrs Meyer said the pair had a happy, 31-year long marriage and had spent the week before his disappearance happily organising a holiday to Canada.
Despite three official searches in 2008, including the largest line-search in Victoria Police history, and numerous searches carried out by family and friends since, no trace of Mr Meyer has ever been found.
Mrs Meyer said she had been through “seven years of hell” since her husband’s disappearance, and was calling for an inquest into the handling of the case, which she believes was insufficient.
“You have that hole in your heart that you can’t plug, because you can’t get the answers that you need,” she said.
The family has expressed concern at reports of gunshots not being immediately followed up, and confusion as to whether Mr Meyer’s phone records were accessed in the initial investigation.
The case is currently before the Coroner’s Court, but Mrs Meyer and the family are currently spearheading a social media campaign to get people to come forward.
The campaign, “What happened to Warren? Speak up” is being run via www.warrenmeyer.com.au, with information on the case, as well as a twitter campaign through the account @SpeakUp4Warren with the hashtag #SpeakUp.
A $100,000 reward is on offer.
A candlelight vigil will be held on Easter Sunday, 5 April, at the Dom Dom Saddle Car Park to mark the seventh anniversary of Mr Meyer’s disappearance.
Residents are welcome to come along, bring picnic gear and a candle, and Mrs Meyer is expected to make a speech to mark the occasion.
Mrs Meyer told the Mail she believed that holding the vigil on the Easter Sunday holiday may trigger a memory in locals who may have been in the area on the day Mr Meyer disappeared.
