Police in the Australian state of Tasmania have uncovered new evidence during a recent search operation in the case of a Belgian backpacker who went missing in wilderness nearly three years ago.
Celine Cremer was last seen on 17 June 2023 and her friends reported her disappearance nine days later. The 31-year-old backpacker had travelled to Philosopher Falls, a popular hiking spot about 300km northwest of Tasmania’s Hobart. She had planned a short bushwalk but never returned.
This week, specialist search teams located a Honda car key, confirmed to belong to Cremer, along with human remains in a remote section of the Arthur River. The items are now being examined by forensic experts.
Her vehicle was eventually found parked at the falls. Police confirmed on Tuesday evening that the recovered car key matched Cremer’s vehicle. “We tried the key, and it worked,” Commander Nathan Johnston said.
During a focused operation over Sunday and Monday this week, authorities examined a 350-metre stretch of riverbank and recovered several new items. Police have now found five bones and two teeth.
“Police have today formally verified that the car key belongs to Celine,” Mr Johnston said in a statement.
“The search undertaken over the past two days was thorough and methodical, and many of these items were located beneath debris, embedded in the riverbed itself.”
Mr Johnston told reporters the challenging environment had taken a toll on search crews.
“Due to the large time span of the search, and the involvement of Tasmania Police personnel and members of Ambulance Tasmania … due to the conditions, (it has been) very trying for them, and they have been searching through extreme conditions for the past three years,” he said.
“I commend them for their efforts along with the efforts they’ve undertaken alongside the work of volunteers and members of the community in finding the items we have located within the Arthur River.”
Investigators will now carry out detailed forensic reviews. “The specialists do a review of the work undertaken already and from that, they can provide a recommendation on what we do into the future,” he said.
“A big part for us is to try and find as much as we can, (and) if it is Celine, to reunite as many items that we can to her family.”
Search efforts intensified after human remains were discovered two weeks ago near the area where she was last seen. Since then, police and volunteers have carried out detailed sweeps of the rugged terrain.
“While forensic testing is yet to be completed, a pathologist has reviewed images and confirmed the remains are human,” Inspector Andrew Hanson said in a statement last month.
Authorities believe previously recovered clothing, a mobile phone, and other belongings point to the “possibility that it is Celine”.
“Whenever we find human remains, we run a secondary investigation into the identity of that person, and we liaise with the coroner and other specialists to provide us that recommendation,” he said.
Cadaver dogs assisted in the latest operation, with officers and wilderness paramedics winched into the isolated area and forced to camp overnight due to severe weather, police said.
Police said they are in close contact with Cremer’s family as the investigation continues. “We are continuing our liaison with Celine’s family to keep them informed as we review the search efforts to date,” Mr Johnston said.
“Their daughter has been missing for a number of years now, but the best we can do is hope to give that family some closure,” he said.
A private investigator, Ken Gamble, who had been searching for Cremer, told AAP on Tuesday: “I think we can now make a fairly good determination about what happened to Celine.
“We know that she got lost. We know that she lost her phone. We know that she’s possibly drowned in the Arthur River,” he was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press.
“It’s given me closure as an investigator,”
“I’m very satisfied we’ve done everything we can to solve the case.”
He said that finding Cremer’s car keys was like finding “a needle in a haystack”.
“To be finding a phone and then keys and then bones and all these things, it’s quite miraculous, really.”
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