Teenage backpacker’s 2019 disappearance in Australia still unexplained

CCTV still of missing Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez, centre, wearing black hooded jumper, inside a liquor store in Byron Bay on the day he disappeared in 2019 (New South Wales Police Force via AP, File)

The disappearance of a young Belgian backpacker in south-east Australia that has confounded authorities for more than three years remains a mystery after the conclusion of an inquest.

A coroner ruled that 18-year-old Theo Hayez likely died soon after he left a nightclub in the coastal town of Byron Bay in New South Wales in May 2019, but she could not say whether it was as a result of an accident or if he was killed by others.