Daniel STORT
Daniel STORT
Daniel Stort was last seen on 5 July 2015 by his mother. He went missing from his home address in Smith Street Wollongong, NSW
Police hold grave concerns for his welfare.
If you have information that may assist police to locate Daniel please call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
He is described as being of Caucasian appearance, 180 to 185cm tall,
with a medium build, blue eyes and brown, shoulder-length hair.
Mr Stort may be wearing dark pants, a dark top and black, steel-capped
boots.
Officers from Wollongong Local Area Command are appealing for
information from the public to help locate Mr Stort.
Police are urging anyone with information in relation to this incident
to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online
reporting page: https://
A Wollongong man who disappeared more than three years ago was so absorbed in the world of online gaming that those closest to him in real life couldn’t be certain of the date he vanished.
An inquest into Daniel Stort’s July 2015 disappearance has heard he spent up to 18 hours alone each day, mostly gaming through the platform ‘Steam’, where he went by the name Uzgull.
When he went missing, a large community of online
friends – people he’d never met in person – expressed
support and dismay on his message board.
He left an online message behind, saying he was “playing with Bear and Winnie … see you on the other side”.
On Friday Magistrate Susan McGowan, sitting in Wollongong as the coroner, heard Bear and Winnie were the deceased guinea pigs of Stort’s closest real-life friend, Simon Goodfellow.
Mr Stort wrote a letter to Mr Goodfellow – “having a friend like you added at least a decade to my life” – and left it propped on his computer keyboard for his mother to discover on July 17, 2015, when she opened the door to his bedroom and found it empty, with the heater left on.
She had heard her son moving around in the preceding
days and spoke to him through his bedroom door on his
birthday, July 8, but had not physically seen him since
July 5, the court heard.
On Friday prosecutor Ben Hart called on the coroner to find that Mr Stort was deceased.
“The facts are compelling. He said goodbye to his
friends,” Sgt Hart said.
Mr Stort lived with his mother Joan Taniane but their relationship was strained, with police taking out an apprehended violence order for his mother’s protection in 2014.
Giving evidence on Friday, Ms Taniane said she opened her son’s door on July 17 with dread.
"I had a dream about Daniel. I woke up with a sense of doom. I thought something wasn't right.”
“I went to his room...I remember knocking on the door, opening it and he wasn't there. There was a note on his computer, it was for Simon.
“The history on his computer had been wiped. I rang my sister and we went straight to the police station.”
Ms Taniane said she hadn’t heard from her son since, and she believed he was dead.
“If he was still alive he may not want to contact me,”
she told the court.
“But he wouldn't have not contacted Simon. I know that Daniel had a strong friendship with Simon and he valued the friendship and support Simon and his family had given him."
Magistrate McGowan found Mr Stort was, on balance of probabilities, deceased.
“But [I] am unable to determine the date, place or manner of his death,” she said.
“To Daniel’s family, I’m sorry that we’re not able to come to a more definite conclusion.”
Outside court, Ms said the result was as she had
expected, and she would now begin planning a memorial
for her son.
“He was a sensitive, caring and intelligent young man,” she said. “I know he had demons he dealt with.”