# Five years on, family demands answers for missing WA man

> Jeremiah Rivers disappeared in Queensland in 2021. A coroner found he likely met foul play, but his family is still waiting for someone to be held accountable.
- Title: Five years on, family demands answers for missing WA man · Abc
- Summary: Jeremiah Rivers disappeared in Queensland in 2021. A coroner found he likely met foul play, but his family is still waiting for someone to be held…
- Keywords: jeremiah rivers, missing person, western australia, queensland, warmun, coroner inquest, foul play, police investigation, news, politics, Five, years
- Source: Abc — https://abc.net.au/news/2026-10-18/no-answers-for-family-of-missing-wa-man-five-years-on/107270862
- Published: 2026-10-18T00:31:55+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: jeremiah rivers, missing person, western australia, queensland, warmun, coroner inquest, foul play, police investigation, news, politics
## Gija man missing five years
Jeremiah Rivers, a twenty-seven-year-old Gija man from Warmun in Western Australia's Kimberley region, was last seen on October eighteen, twenty twenty-one while on a trip with six other men in Queensland.
## Mother's daily anguish
Joanne Rivers, his mother, says she wakes every day and night shaken and in tears, wondering what happened to her son and where he could be.

> Every day, every night, waking up all shaken and with tears, thinking of my son and wondering, thinking, 'What really happened? Where could he be?'
## Police restart search with new information
Police restarted the search for Jeremiah Rivers in May twenty twenty-four after receiving new information and deployed extensive resources to the remote Noccundra area in south-west Queensland.
## Coroner finds foul play likely
Later in twenty twenty-four a Queensland coroner found Jeremiah Rivers was deceased and likely met with foul play, but could not identify who was responsible.
## Seven conflicting accounts from witnesses
Coroner Donald MacKenzie found Queensland police received at least seven different accounts of events from the group of men Jeremiah Rivers was travelling with, suggesting ongoing collusion among them.
## Trip purpose disputed at inquest
During the inquest in twenty twenty-three, some witnesses described the trip as a hunting trip, but others said the purpose was to transport a large quantity of cannabis to Darwin to sell to remote communities.
## Family demands court, not inquest
Marcia Purdie, Jeremiah Rivers's auntie, said the family wanted a court hearing where someone could be found guilty, not just an inquest. She said that would bring them closure.

> We want this case in court … where someone can get found guilty. That will bring us closure.
## Family keeps his name alive
The police investigation remains open. Jeremiah Rivers's aunties are angry about the lack of progress and hope continued media interest and pressure will bring answers.
## Mother's plea five years on
Joanne Rivers says it is hard to go on without her son in her life.She misses him every day and sees young people in the football clubs he played in, wishing he was still there.

> I miss him every day. I see all these young people, even the football clubs he played in, and I see all these young fellas and [I'm] wishing that he is still there.
## Key takeaway

Five years after Jeremiah Rivers vanished in Queensland, a coroner found he likely died from foul play but could not identify who was responsible. His family demands a court case, not just an inquest.