Anthony John Jones was an Australian man who disappeared while backpacking in North Queensland in November 1982. The case garnered substantial media attention, with critics charging that police mishandled the investigation into Jones' disappearance.
Disappearance
At the time of his disappearance, Tony Jones, a native of Perth, was in the last stages of a six-month working holiday around Australia. After quick visits to Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney, he settled for several months in Brisbane before finally setting off on the homeward leg of the journey with his brother Tim. For three weeks, Jones hitchhiked while his brother rode a bicycle. They communicated by phoning relatives and leaving messages for each other. Along the way, they met up briefly at Mackay and Airlie Beach and spent a week together in Townsville, where they shared a caravan with two fellow travelers at the Sun City Caravan Park in Rosslea.
On 28 October 1982, after Tim began the 900 km bike ride out west to Mount Isa, Jones set off alone for a side trip to Cairns. When he arrived back in Townsville on 3 November, he telephoned his family and girlfriend in Perth. He was surprised to learn that Tim had already reached Mount Isa, and learned that his mother had just topped up his bank account with $150 that was to be shared with Tim. Jones made no more phone calls and did not use his bank account again. He never reached Mount Isa.Jones, BA (1988). Searching for Tony: Profile of a Missing Person. Spectrum Publications, Melbourne. .
Coronial inquest In May 1983, the government issued a reward of $20,000 for information which leads to the apprehension and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the disappearance and suspected murder of Jones. In 2010, the reward was increased to $250,000.
Despite no body having been found, Coroner Ian Fisher stated in his findings on 20 February 2002 that Jones was a victim of homicide. "I am satisfied that the missing person is dead," wrote the coroner. "I find that he died on or around the 3rd of November 1982 at the hands of a person or persons unknown".Fisher, Ian (2002). "Findings in the matter of an inquest into the cause and circumstances surrounding the death of Anthony John Jones", Townsville Coroner's Court, Ref. no. 20022002 T20/JOW M/T TSV6356. In spite of the homicide finding, Jones' family was initially unable to get a death certificate because of an anomaly in Queensland legislation, which prevented the issuance of a death certificate in cases where the coroner failed to indicate a specific place of death. The Attorney-General of Queensland and Minister for Justice, Linda Lavarch, subsequently introduced new legislation in 2005, saying "the Jones family has suffered enough...they should not suffer further by not being able to get a death certificate for their son". The certificate was eventually issued in January 2006."Government to amend death law", Townsville Bulletin, 14 September 2005, p.7.
Reopening of the coronial inquest The Jones family's review of inquest documents in 2007 unearthed a slew of neglected leads. However, owing to the protracted and unsatisfactory response of police and government officials, and a refusal by authorities to refer the case to the cold case unit, the family petitioned the Attorney-General Cameron Dick on 14 June 2009 to reopen the inquest. The petition was ignored for fifteen months. Then, in September 2010, when the Queensland government launched a "walk a day in my shoes" campaign in a bid to curb its falling ratings in the opinion polls, Brian Jones, a brother of the victim, sent Dick a pair of his shoes, daring him to walk in the shoes of a victim of Queensland crime. On 18 September, a day after the shoes arrived at his office, Dick announced that he had instructed the State Coroner Michael Barnes to reopen the inquest.Paull, Nathan, "Missing man case inquiry", Townsville Bulletin, 18 September 2010, p.11."Old shoes key to reopening inquest into suspected murder victim Anthony John Jones", Courier-Mail, 18 September 2010.
The new inquest has been beset with long delays, a protracted police investigation and a changeover of key personnel such as the coroner and counsel assisting. However, on 14 April 2016, some six years after the family first petitioned Dick, State Coroner Terry Ryan held a pre-inquest hearing and subsequently scheduled the new inquest to be held in Townsville from 29 August until 9 September 2016. The hearing was later suspended, pending a judicial review in September 2018, which was unsuccessful.Bunch, Aaron, "Queensland family seeks cold case clarity", The North West Star, 23 July 2019. Accessed 17 March 2021
Cloncurry search In January 2011, a retired grazier from Cloncurry informed the Jones family of old evidence that appeared to have been lost or forgotten by police for decades."New lead in 30-year cold case", Herald Sun, 4 October 2011. He said that about 29 years earlier he had given Cloncurry police some physical evidence which he and a friend, a retired police officer, found on the edge of the township. The evidence included remnants of some camping gear and a letter addressed to Jones from his mother.Johnston, Jessica, "Cold-case clue hunt", Townsville Bulletin, 11 October 2010, p.2.
The witness said he was frustrated by the lack of response from police when he made inquiries in 2010 about the old evidence; however, the family relayed his story to the coroner, and the coroner instructed police to undertake a thorough search of the campsite. On 11 October 2011, a search party of eight officers and four SES volunteers spent six hours searching the campsite—identified as a 50 m2 area beside the Cloncurry River near the intersection of Quamby Road and Barkly Highway. The search failed to find any sign of Jones' belongings or remains. After the search, Northern Region Crime Coordinator, Detective Acting Inspector Mick Walker, told the media that police were still investigating what happened to the evidence handed in to Cloncurry police.Johnston, Jessica, "Searchers find no new clues in Tony Jones case", Townsville Bulletin, 12 October 2010.
Prison cell confession A former prisoner came forward on 13 October 2011, saying that while incarcerated at the Townsville Correctional Centre in January 2000, a cell mate confessed they "did a bloke out near Mount Isa."Paull, Nathan, "Suspect dies amid wait for new Qld inquest", The Australian, 23 November 2015, Prison and criminal records helped identify the suspect as Michael James Laundess.Channel 10 News, Perth, 24 November 2015 More information on the suspect was expected to come to light at the coronial inquest, but long delays resulted in a missed opportunity to hear what Laundess had to say about the allegations and the location of the body. With the inquest still on hold, Laundess died in Perth on 17 October 2015, aged 53.
Criticisms of the Queensland Police investigation The first attempts of the Jones family to phone in a missing persons report on 11 November 1982 were complicated by red tape.Swanton, B (1988). Missing Persons. Australian Institute of Criminology (Canberra). . The investigation by Queensland Police only commenced three days later when family members traveled five thousand kilometres to file the report in person.Jones, BA (1988). Searching for Tony: Profile of a Missing Person, pp.12-23. Spectrum Publications, Melbourne. . As stated at the inquest, basic inquiries were neglected: for example, police failed to get a report from the hospital on treatment Jones had received prior to his disappearance, and at least one key witness mentioned by the coroner was never interviewed. The family was also left without police assistance when they conducted a door-knock inquiry in the vicinity of the phone booth on Bowen Road, Rosslea, which was the last confirmed whereabouts.Jones, BA (1988). Searching for Tony: Profile of a Missing Person, pp.43-45. Spectrum Publications, Melbourne. . Police did not release a composite sketch of a suspect until ten years after they received information about the suspect."Identikit issued after 10 years", Courier Mail, 2 November 1992, p.5.
Media reports on the inquest highlighted other problems with the investigation, reporting that some of the witness statements were missing and that the former investigating officer had been uncooperative with coronial inquiries.Boston, Charles. "Coroner reopens Jones file", Townsville Bulletin, 22 August 1998. The media also reported that it wasn't until 2001 that statements were obtained from several people who first approached police in 1982.Stockdale, Kylie. "Effort to find man'lacking'", Townsville Bulletin, 20 February 2002, p.3. Other criticisms were voiced by the coroner and the coroner's assistant. Coroner Fisher said "more attention should have been given to early investigation", while his assistant, Sergeant Kym Farquharson-Jones, said the inquest evidence showed police investigations into the disappearance were "not sufficient by today's standard."
The view of Sergeant Farquharson-Jones is indicative of the systemic problems highlighted in the Fitzgerald Inquiry report. Tony Fitzgerald QC, who presided over the Royal Commission into police misconduct, said the Queensland Police culture of the 1980s was "debilitated by misconduct, inefficiency, incompetence, and deficient leadership".Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct, "Fitzgerald Inquiry Report", Government Printer, Brisbane, 1989. As a result of the Fitzgerald Inquiry, the Commissioner of Police Terry Lewis, who held the post during the early years of the Jones investigation, was subsequently convicted and jailed for corruption."Ex-police chief jailed for graft", New Straits Times, 6 August 1991, p.13.
In defence of the police handling of the Jones case, Det. Snr. Sgt. Chris Lill, who worked on the case for about fifteen years, said in a report to the Townsville coroner that "rightly or wrongly, missing persons over the age of sixteen years of age did not attract or command the deployment or availability of resources as they would have in this day and age".Lill, Chris (1997). "Missing persons - Anthony John Jones on or about 3 November 1982 at Townsville". Exhibit 2--Inquest into the cause and circumstances surrounding the death of Anthony John Jones. p.19. Townsville Coroner's Court, 2002.
Unresolved leads
In January 1983 police received a tip-off on the whereabouts of Jones' body. The letter was postmarked Cairns, where Jones had visited in the days before his disappearance. The text is as follows: "I believe body of AJ Jones buried in or near Fullarton River bed within 100 yds west southside Flinders Hwy. Lochiel"Jones, BA (1988). Searching for Tony: Profile of a Missing Person, pp.59-64. Spectrum Publications, Melbourne. . After a fruitless two-day search, police concluded the letter was a hoax. Inquest documents reveal that in the weeks before the search, the dry river bed was flowing with "about 20-foot of water" and that there was "not much hope" of finding any trace of Jones or his belongings."Running Sheet". "Exhibit 3--Inquest into the cause and circumstances surrounding the death of Anthony John Jones", Item 70, p.19. Townsville Coroner's Court, Ref. no. 20022002 T20/JOW M/T TSV6356. The Jones family urged police to use DNA profiling of the Lochiel evidence to determine the identity of Lochiel; for years police declined on the grounds the evidence had not been preserved in good condition, but they subsequently admitted to coronial investigators that they had lost the Lochiel letter.Guppy, Damon. "Help find our brother", The Cairns Post. 19 November 2007, p.1.
A witness told police he had seen an older man with Jones at the Rising Sun Hotel in Townsville on the night he disappeared. Ten years later, in 1992, police published an identikit picture of the suspect.