Source : Perth Now news
The death of a backpacker whose body was found more than two years after she disappeared while on a bushwalk has been ruled as an accident.
Coroner Madeline Wilson found Belgian backpacker Celine Cremer’s died after a series of errors in the Tasmanian Wilderness some time between June 17 and 21 in 2023.
Ms Cremer’s body was found near Arthur River at Waratah earlier this year.
Ms Cremer had been on a working holiday in Australia and was travelling along Tasmania’s West Coast before she returned to the mainland.
A missing persons report was made to police after a friend she was supposed to meet on Australia’s mainland and her family could not contact Ms Cremer.
Police immediately began looking for Ms Cremer and established her mobile phone last pinged off a base station at Waratah on June 20, 2023.
She obtained petrol from a Waratah Roadhouse three days earlier and spoke with the operator who suggested that Philosopher and Waratah Falls were good places to visit in the area.
She was last seen driving towards Philosopher Falls on June 17, 2023.
A council worker found Ms Cremer’s car at a Philospher Falls car park and noted it had been there for several days when she was reported missing.
Police searched the area and noted the track quickly became obscured by darkness beneath a dense canopy as daylight faded and needed to use their mobile phone torches to find their way back about 5pm.
Police also consulted with an expert on survivability, Dr Paul Scott, who advised it was unlikely they would find Ms Cremer alive.
Dr Scott told police it was likely she became injured or succumbed to hypothermia after three or four nights outdoors.
“The criminal investigation did not identify any evidence of the involvement of an unknown person,” Ms Wilson said.
In 2024, Ms Cremer’s family hired a private investigator Kenneth Gamble to find her.
Volunteers that included former military personnel, experienced bushwalkers, rangers, mapping specialists and environmental professionals joined a search party to find Ms Cremer.
Her mobile phone was uncovered during one of the searches that involved 25 volunteers in December last year.
Another volunteer Jarrod Boys spotted a human jaw and another bone as he made his way towards the river banks searching for Ms Cremer earlier this year.
Police attended later that day and found more human bones in the area.
Further searches uncovered clothing partially buried in log jams, more human bones and Ms Cremer’s car keys.
An officer noted the northern side of the river was very steep find it was the most likely location where a body entered the water.
Coroner Wilson was satisfied the human bones belonged to Ms Cremer and that her death was caused by an accident following a series of errors.
She believes Ms Cremer wandered off the track from Magnet Dam and became lost.
“The death of Ms Cremer was the result of a confluence of errors that commenced when she took the walking track towards Magnet Dam, having visited the Philosopher Falls lookout, instead of returning directly to the car park,” Ms Wilson said.
“The deviation from the track occurred late in the day, four days before the winter solstice, at which time the afternoon light was starting to fade.
“The weather conditions at the time were cold, with overnight temperatures close to freezing and wet.”
She said Ms Cremer had insufficient clothing, became separated from her mobile phone and failed to follow safety precautions.
“It is not possible to discern the exact mode of entry into the river but given the steep and slippery terrain above the river, one possibility is that she slipped and fell from the banks into the river,” Ms Wilson said.
“Another possibility is that she slipped and fell trying to cross the river.
“There may be other hypotheses open on the evidence. I am not able to ascertain the exact circumstances in which Ms Cremer came to rest in the Arthur River.”
