Rusted gravestone plaque brings end to family’s search for Sydney grandfather missing for 70 years

Donna Truscott holds up a picture of her grandfather, Donald Gordon Buckley, also known as Arthur Johnson, who went missing in 1954. A plaque in Moree cemetery reveals he died of natural causes aged 49 Photograph: supplied by Donna Truscott

On a rusted gravestone plaque in Moree cemetery lies the answer to an almost 70-year-long family mystery that has consumed Donna Truscott: what happened to her grandfather, Donald Gordon Buckley?

“Donald G. Buckley known by many as Arthur Johnson,” the gravestone reads. “Passed into God’s care 16-1-1980 age 49 years.”