{"id":81917,"date":"2025-10-16T09:59:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T09:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/81917\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T09:59:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T09:59:10","slug":"two-bushwalkers-missing-in-different-parts-of-tasmania-with-grave-fears-for-76-year-old-tasmania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/81917\/","title":{"rendered":"Two bushwalkers missing in different parts of Tasmania with \u2018grave fears\u2019 for 76-year-old | Tasmania"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tasmanian police are searching for two bushwalkers missing in different parts of the state, including one aged 76 who has now been missing for 10 days.<\/p>\n

Police say they hold \u201cgrave fears\u201d for Peter Willoughby who wandered into bushland in Hollybank forest reserve, in the state\u2019s north-east, on 5 October. Separately, bushwalker Daryl Fong, 30, went missing while hiking in Mount Field national park, in Tasmania\u2019s south-east, over the weekend.<\/p>\n

Police resumed searching for Willoughby on Wednesday after efforts were paused last Friday due to poor weather posing a risk for rescuers in the dense bushland.<\/p>\n

Search and rescue teams returned to Hollybank forest reserve to scour the area for Willoughby. Police officers and SES personnel searched previously examined areas and ventured south from the bushwalker\u2019s last known location.<\/p>\n

Map showing location of Hollybank forest reserve in Tasmania.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Tasmania Police Northern Search and Rescue Inspector, Nick Clark, said despite the extensive searching over the past 10 days Willoughby was not located.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain determined to find Mr Willoughby, but given the length of time he has been missing, and the inclement weather conditions in the area, police hold serious concerns for his welfare,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Willoughby, from Scottsdale, was reported missing on the afternoon of 5 October, after he went walking in the thick forest near Hollybank.<\/p>\n

Police previously said he was in the area to retrieve his silver Subaru Outback station wagon, which had become stuck on a nearby road the prior week.<\/p>\n

While retrieving the car on 5 October with others he became separated from the group.<\/p>\n

The elderly man is being treated for a medical condition, which can result in him sometimes becoming disoriented, police said.<\/p>\n

A concurrent search effort was also under way for Fong in the Mount Field national park area on Wednesday. A friend reported Fong \u2013 who was on a day hike in the national park over the weekend \u2013 missing on Monday.<\/p>\n

Map showing location of Mount Field national park in Tasmania.<\/a><\/p>\n

He texted a friend at about 3am on Sunday saying he had become delayed and was planning to seek shelter overnight, police said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout 2.50pm on Monday, the friend contacted police concerned for Daryl\u2019s welfare as they had not been able to contact him,\u201d a statement said.<\/p>\n

Fong\u2019s vehicle \u2013 a white Subaru \u2013 was located in the Mount Mawson car park, where police believed he left it to commence his walk.<\/p>\n

Police said search teams, which paused again on Wednesday night, continued to face difficult weather, including snow and rain, poor visibility, and near gale force winds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tasmanian police are searching for two bushwalkers missing in different parts of the state, including one aged 76…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81918,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[273,111,139,69,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-81917","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}