The brother of a missing Maryborough boy has set up a crowdfunding page to help pay for further excavation of an Avoca mine where he believes his brother’s body was dumped.
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Daryl Floyd hopes to raise at least $100,000 through the gofundme page to continue searching the Morning Star Mine at Bung Bong Hill, strongly believed to be the resting place of his brother Terry, who disappeared more than 40 years ago, at the age of 12.
Over the past six years, Mr Floyd has painstakingly searched for Terry’s remains at the disused mine.
While he has been given some government grants to help fund the search, Mr Floyd has also spent more than $100,000 of his own money in the hopes of finding Terry’s remains.
“Ideally, we need $200,000 to complete the search of the mine, but $100,000 would go a long way in the excavation process,” Mr Floyd told The Courier on Sunday.
A crew of excavation experts is currently digging out a large shaft adjacent to the mine where Terry’s body is believed to be. Once excavated, it will give miners easier access to lower down machinery in an effort to get to the original shaft.
Already found in the mine search is a silver necklace, identical to the one Terry was wearing the day he disappeared. The chain was found 42 metres (140 feet) down the disused mine.
Terry Floyd disappeared from the corner of the Pyrenees and Sunraysia highways on June 28, 1975. In 2001, a coroner determined Terry was abducted and murdered. But his body has never been found and despite having two people of interest in the case, no-one has been convicted.
“A disused mine cannot be (Terry’s) final resting place. He deserves to be buried with dignity and my family deserves the simplest of human needs … a place to go and visit our beloved brother,” Mr Floyd said.
Terry’s case was the subject of a special segment on A Current Affair last week, in which a re-enactment of the day the 12-year-old disappeared was aired.
Included in the re-enactment were actors depicting not only Terry, but also the two “persons of interest” in the case. A ute similar to the one believed to be involved in the abduction was also used in the re-enactment.
Mr Floyd hopes by airing the segment nationwide, people who may have information about the 41-year-old mystery will come forward.
Anyone wishing to donate to the Missing Terry Floyd Mine Search gofundme campaign, can click on bit.ly/2b76WtA