Two months after the disappearance of young Belgian Théo Hayez, "all avenues of investigation" are being explored, the Australian police assured.
DNA analysis is still being carried to determine whether a hat found near Byron Bay lighthouse in mid-July is the one worn by Hayez.
"All lines of investigation are being followed in the context of the inquiry into the Théo Hayez' disappearance," a spokesman for the New South Wales local police confirmed to Belga on Wednesday.
Théo Hayez was last seen on May 31 leaving a nightclub in the beach resort of Byron Bay. His telephone was found the following day near the lighthouse to the north-east of the town. During searches conducted by volunteers in the neighbourhood, a cap similar to the one worn by the young man was found in mid-July and handed in to the police.
"DNA tests are still in progress, without there being a specific time frame," the spokesman told Belga. "It's on a case-by-case basis, depending on the complications encountered, on the number of people," she stipulated.
The physical investigations conducted by the Australian police were completed at the beginning of July, but searches led by volunteers are ongoing, mainly in the dense bush bordering Tallow Beach, to the south of the lighthouse.
Ten or so volunteer workers were working on through the rain on Wednesday, two months after the disappearance of the youth from Brussels. "We are still waiting for the results of the DNA analyses. If we could find any piece of evidence whatever, perhaps a pendant or telephone - we cannot abandon his family," Noeline Smith, the organiser of these separate searches, confided to NBN News on Sunday.
Théo Hayez' father, Laurent, last week expressed his intention to go back to Byron Bay during August. "Théo's parents and young brother have not given up and have confidence in the Australian and Belgian police, whose work goes on, to get some answers," he said.
The Brussels Times
