{"id":3453,"date":"2025-12-14T04:01:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T04:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=3453"},"modified":"2025-12-14T04:01:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T04:01:21","slug":"police-join-search-for-belgian-tourist-after-phone-found-in-tasmanian-wilderness-two-years-since-she-went-missing-tasmania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=3453","title":{"rendered":"Police join search for Belgian tourist after phone found in Tasmanian wilderness two years since she went missing | Tasmania"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Police will officially join private investigators and local volunteers in scouring the Tasmanian wilderness for a Belgian tourist, two-and-a-half years after she went missing and a day after her mobile phone was found.<\/p>\n

Celine Cremer\u2019s Samsung phone was found by SES search and rescue volunteer Tony Hage on Saturday in the area around Philosopher Falls near Cradle Mountain in Tasmania\u2019s north-west where the 31-year-old was last seen on 17 June 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Inspector Andrew Hanson said Tasmania police had supported Cremer\u2019s friends and family to privately arrange a search of the area this weekend \u2013 which, he announced on Sunday, officers would now formally join.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPolice were not leading or coordinating this private search, but we had been supporting the effort by sharing information and advice about what to do should anything be discovered,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday, a bit before midday, the private search party located a mobile phone, which has been confirmed as belonging to Celine and will now undergo further forensic examination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hanson said the phone was found in an area that \u201chad been extensively searched previously\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Photo from the initial search in 2023, showing Cremer\u2019s SUV parked in bushland.<\/span> Photograph: Tasmania police\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cPhone data, as well as the location it was found, supports our theory that Celine may have, using an app on her phone, elected to leave the Philosopher Falls track to take a more direct route back to her car as daylight faded,\u201d the inspector said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe suspect she dropped her phone and continued without it, becoming disoriented in dense terrain.<\/p>\n

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Police believe Cremer had driven to Philosopher Falls, parked her car and set off on \u201cwhat was meant to be a short bushwalk\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, she did not return,\u201d Hanson said.<\/p>\n

Nine days after her last confirmed sighting, Cremer\u2019s friends reported her disappearance and police found her white SUV in the Philosopher Falls car park the next day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the days since Celine\u2019s disappearance, the winter weather in the area included sub zero temperatures, snow and rainfall,\u201d Hanson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cExpert medical advice at the time indicated those conditions were not survivable for the duration she is believed to have been exposed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Illustrating how perilous and changeable conditions can be in the far-flung extremity at Australia\u2019s southern edge, an independent controller postponed the search for Cremer on Sunday morning due to rain, hail and potential snow after a bushwalkers weather alert was issued by the Bureau of Meteorology.<\/p>\n

The initial police search lasted for two weeks before being called off when experts made the determination that Cremer could not have survived. Despite numerous and extensive searches in treacherous terrain and challenging weather conditions since, no sign of her was found until Saturday\u2019s discovery.<\/p>\n

Rob Parsons, a Tasmanian historian who helped organised and participate in the search, posted on social media that \u201clocal legend\u201d Hage found the phone after \u201cmore than 20 trips into the field [many of them solo]\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cTony located Celine\u2019s mobile phone less than 100 metres from her last known GPS point,\u201d Parsons wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis proves the theory that Celine lost her phone shortly after recording her final location and provides clear direction on the path she was heading.\u201d<\/p>\n

The search will resume once weather permits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the search recommences, we will work together with the independent searchers to specifically re-search the area where the phone was located and the likely route Celine may have taken after losing it,\u201d Hanson said.<\/p>\n