LATE MARCHJason Richards leaves Ballarat for three months' work in Darwin. He stays with his sister.APRIL/JUNERichards buys an aluminium boat, possibly from a popular buy/swap/sell site at the side of the Stuart Highway in Coolalinga.JUNE 10Richards' 28th birthday, which he shares with his three-year-old son Jack. He plans to return for a combined birthday celebration.JUNE 19Richards leaves Darwin in a blue 1991 Toyota Hilux twin cab ute with a dog cage on the back. He was towing the aluminium boat. It is also believed to be the last day he accessed his bank account.JUNE 20Richards makes his way south along the Stuart Highway, telephoning family members twice along the way - at Alice Springs and then later at Coober Pedy.JUNE 21Aluminium boat abandoned near Pimba. He stops a truck driver just kilometres from the boat and continues south about 8am.Richards' sister misses a call from his phone. The call was traced to somewhere outside Woomera.JUNE 23Richards' mother Yvonne reports him missing to police.JUNE 24Richards' disappearance is made public and an appeal is made for information. Richards' slightly-burnt aluminium boat and trailer is found abandoned off the Stuart Highway near Pimba. However, no trace of Richards, his ute or his dog Amy.JUNE 27An impassioned plea is made to The Courier by Mrs Richards and older brother David.JUNE 28His disappearance is taken over by South Australian Major Crime Investigation Branch.JULY 1Richards' older brother David and close friends travel to South Australia to join the search.JULY 3Search for Richards intensifies.JULY 4Police say that three confirmed and more than 100 unconfirmed sightings of Richards have now been reported. One truck driver told police Richards was acting erratically and was incoherent in his speech. Police say the other two sightings also occurred in the same area about the same time.JULY 7South Australian police start another massive air and ground search, this time focusing on Woomera on both east and west sides of the Stuart Highway.JULY 10Amy, the pointer-cross dog belonging to Richards, is found in poor condition, but alive, after wandering onto a cattle station south-east of Glendambo. Still no sign of Richards or his ute.JULY 12South Australian police use an Aboriginal bush expert to back-track the movements of Richards.JULY 13South Australian police hold press conference to say the bush expert finds nothing in his search, adding more than 4000 square kilometres of the area had already been scoured and that restricted space around Woomera had been opened to police looking for Richards. Another appeal for information about the missing Ballarat man is made.