A federal MP has asked the Victorian Government to meet the costs of excavating an Avoca mine in the hopes of solving a 40-year-old murder mystery.
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Indi MP Cathy McGown earlier this month wrote a letter to Premier Daniel Andrews asking the state government help cover the costs – $90,000 so far – incurred by Daryl Floyd in the search of the disused gold mine for the remains of his older brother Terry, who disappeared 40 years ago Sunday.
In the letter dated June 2, 2015, Ms McGowan made an impassioned plea to Mr Andrews to consider meeting the excavation costs to recover the body of Terry, then aged 12, who disappeared from the intersection of the Sunraysia and Pyrenees highways on June 28, 1975.
“Following the 2001 Coronial inquest into Terry’s disappearance, Daryl believed new evidence had been identified to support further exploration of the mineshaft,” Ms McGowan stated in the letter.
“The state government committed $50,000 to the search, and Daryl about $90,000. However, more necessary to complete the work.
“I respectfully request the State of Victoria to consider meeting the costs to recover Terry’s body. The case is compelling that the body is in the identified mine shaft. This is important for the family which has sought answers for four decades. This is important for the closure they deserve on this tragedy.”
Mr Floyd has spent the last five years searching a disused gold mine at Avoca for the remains of Terry. Nothing but decades of rubbish and animal carcasses have been removed from the Morning Star Mine at Bung Bong Hill, but Mr Floyd has no plans to give up looking for the final resting place of his brother.
Excavating the Bung Bong mine costs a staggering $1500-a-metre and the mining experts have dug down more than 50 metres to gain access to underground tunnels and shafts. Despite $50,000 in compensation from Victoria Police several years ago, as well as several fundraising events and the generosity of family, friends and even strangers, Mr Floyd remains tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket.
Late last year, Victoria Police announced all rewards for unsolved murders, including that of Terry Floyd, would be $1 million, aligning with the maximum penalty for that particular crime.
Full story about the day Terry disappeared and his brother’s desperate search in The Weekender today.