Police believe a teenager missing for more than a week from Victoria’s north-west was likely driven hundreds of kilometres across the border by an unknown person before his phone was disconnected.
Investigators are running out of leads to find 15-year-old Dom, who was last seen at his home in Merbein West, near Mildura, on the evening of September 14.
Missing teenager Dom.Credit:Victoria Police
“Our concern is that it’s been over a week since Dom’s gone missing and there’s been no contact with any family member, so they are quite distraught and upset,” Detective Inspector David Rowe said.
“We believe that Dom is travelling with an unknown person. But at this stage, we don’t know who that person is, or the vehicle they may be travelling in.”
Police used mobile phone location data to track Dom’s movements from his home in Merbein West to near Cowra in NSW, more than 700 kilometres away. Dom’s mobile phone was detected in Cowra on Saturday afternoon but has since been disconnected.
Investigators have cross-checked the records with information from interstate bus routes, transport companies and trains to establish that the teenager could have only been travelling in a private car.
The 15-year-old has been described as slightly withdrawn and a “homebody”.Credit:Victoria Police
“Our concern is that this person is unknown to police but also the family. They do not have any idea at all who he may be with,” Rowe said.
Officers have collected CCTV footage from fast food outlets and rest stops along the route but have been unable to identify the vehicle.
There have been no confirmed sightings of Dom in the Cowra area and no witnesses have reported seeing the teenager getting in a car or hitchhiking.
Rowe said Dom, who has high-functioning autism, was a slightly withdrawn teenager and a “homebody” but had a network of supportive friends and family in Mildura.
He said the 15-year-old was attending school in the lead-up to his disappearance, and “there’s nothing in particular that we can put our finger on that identifies why Dom did leave home”.
Rowe said the teenager took a small amount of cash and food with him, which could indicate he planned to be away from home for a while.
A search of his social media accounts and internet searches has shed no light on where he was planning to go. His family did not wish to comment.
“Our battle is our investigation is to a point where we’ve looked at a significant amount of material, followed up a significant amount of leads, but we are coming to the end of those leads,” Rowe said.
“We just need that little snippet of information. Any little snippet of information that we can get will help us out.”
Rowe said there was no evidence to suggest foul play was involved but did not rule it out.
Dom is described as Caucasian, about 173 centimetres tall, with blue eyes and hair dyed an apricot colour and styled in a mohawk. He was last seen wearing a black studded hand-painted jacket, brown pants and black boots.
Anyone who sees Dom is urged to phone triple zero. Those with information about Dom’s whereabouts should phone Mildura Police Station on 5018 5300.
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